Richard O'Connell and the Dragon Ring
by pick1frcryingoutloud
Summary: When Rick learns he's a wizard, he sets off on the adventure of a lifetime at Hogwarts. He's hardly adjusted to life as a Hogwarts student when a shopkeeper in the nearby town of Hogsmeade get murdered and a dark object has potentially found its way into the school. Rick and his friends Rigel, Terri and Cedric set out to uncover the truth and catch a dark wizard.
1. Coakley

Chapter One

Coakley

Coakley was a typical former colliery town in the county of Nottinghamshire that began to flourish at the beginning of the 19th century when miners came from far and wide to find work. As the population grew, so did the town. Whole streets of identical miner's homes were built, a local school was established when the need for one grew and on the hill overlooking the little town, at the end of Manor Road, stood Clayton Manor.

Old Mr. Clayton had inherited the Clayton Colliery from his father, just like he in turn had inherited from his father and he was the kind of man whose appearance and character demanded respect from his employees and their families. He had been hard but fair, the kind of man who listened to his employees and cared for them and leaning on those principles, he created a prosperous company. Mr. Clayton had only one child, a son called James to whom he left the flourishing business upon his death. James, however, was nothing like his hardworking father. Ever the idler and playboy, James had married a beautiful girl named Margaret Walcott whom he subsequently left at home to spend time gambling, drinking and otherwise squandering away his father's fortune. He neglected his father's company to that degree that Clayton Colliery had to shut down and young Clayton was forced to sell most of his assets to pay for his debts. With the mine closed, the glory days of Coakley and subsequently those of the Clayton family came to an end. With the money and his father's business gone, James became a hermit and spent his days in the company of a whiskey bottle until one day his wife found him dead on the floor of his office with a gun in one hand and a bottle of his finest whiskey in the other. Thus Mrs. Clayton was left with the Clayton house, a cellar full of the whisky that killed her husband and no money.

Twenty years passed and the village recovered from the economic depression. As the nearby cities began to flourish, real estate in Coakley recovered and young families began to move in. Only the once stately mansion fell into further disrepair. Broken windows, shattered by village kids throwing rocks, could no longer be replaced so they were just boarded up and the once white walls became covered with ivy. Several tiles were missing from the roof and the once meticulously kept lawn and grand garden had transformed into a collection of thriving weeds. Anyone who looked at it would probably think the house was uninhabited but 'Mad Maggie' Clayton, James's widow, still lived there. Living off social benefits, Maggie had become a grungy recluse who had fallen victim to the same vice that killed her husband. She now spent her days wallowing in alcoholic fumes.

The people of Coakley loved to gossip about Mrs. Clayton's situation and lamented the awful appearance of the manor. The only thing they loved to gossip more about was the boy now living in Clayton Manor. It was about three years ago when Mrs. Stryker, who lived nearest to the Clayton widow, had observed one morning a young boy entering the house dragging a suitcase behind him. No one knew where he'd come from or why he came to Coakley but there were plenty of speculations. Some believed that the boy was an underage criminal, others that he was an orphaned relative of Mad Maggie. Fact was, they had never seen him before but they saw plenty of him afterwards and although she had never spoken to the boy, Mrs. Stryker knew enough to know he was as bad as Mad Maggie herself if not worse.

With his torn, worn-down clothes and his unruly black hair, he had, in Mrs. Stryker's opinion, tarnished the neighbourhood singlehandedly when he came here 3 years ago. Sensible as she was, Mrs. Stryker had immediately forbidden her son, who was only a couple of years older than the boy, to associate himself with such a vagabond and being considerate, advised her friends to do the same. She knew she had acted correctly when a couple of months later, word got out that the vagrant had brutally attacked Burt Edwards, a boy from down the street. The vile miscreant was a menace to the community and strange occurrences always seemed to follow him. She was sure he was the one who had stolen her pie just a month ago. She had put it on the kitchen counter to cool down and as she did, she noticed the boy loitering around the street like he always seemed to do. She paid no real attention to this and briefly stepped out of the kitchen to take a call which turned out to be a wrong number and when she came back to check on her pie not three minutes later, it had vanished and so had the boy. She couldn't figure out how he'd managed it, she hadn't been gone long enough for the boy to be able to walk up to the house, take the pie and disappear but really, who else could have stolen it?

On the hot summer afternoon when this story begins, Mrs. Stryker was doing the dishes, looking up from time to time to overlook the deserted street through the window. It was day three of the heat wave and most people stayed in to enjoy the cool air and avoid the heat outside. There was only one person strolling outside, Mrs. Stryker observed and it was Richard O'Connell. Speak of the devil…

Richard, or Rick as he liked to be called, was aimlessly wandering the streets, alone as usual. Despite living in Coakley for the last three years, Rick had not made any friends. After learning that he was related to 'Mad Maggie' as everyone called his guardian, the children of the town had shunned him, thinking he was a freak. At first, it had made him upset but then he had found a way to get back at them. It wasn't hard to do because Rick was no ordinary boy of eleven, he could do things - strange things like blowing up cellar doors or making things fly just by thinking it. He could do these things ever since he could remember and on the night his parents were murdered, it had even helped save his life. After that night, fear and anger had driven Rick to train himself so that he could control these powers. He never showed them to anyone, always remembering his mother's warning not to let anyone see what he could do or they might try to do him harm or lock him up. It was the one rule of his mother that he had never broken. However, that didn't mean that he couldn't bend it a little.

Rick found great pleasure in scaring the uptight and judgemental people of this town. Whenever kids were trespassing in the overgrown garden of Clayton Manor, Rick would make branches grab at the kids' shirts and hair. It didn't take long before the whole town was convinced that it was the spirit of old Mr. Clayton who was chasing the kids out of the garden and they started to avoid it. As long as no-one saw him there, no-one needed to know he was the one behind it and he could use the garden for what he liked to call 'magic practise'. He would try to levitate branches there, blow up dead trees and send rocks flying at trees like odd-shaped bullets. Rick felt it was important to keep in shape. His magic was what got him the upper hand over his adversaries and what kept people from being able to beat him up. It was also often the thing that kept him fed. Because Mad Maggie hardly had any money and as most of what little she did have was spent on whiskey, there was seldom any real food in the house. When he got really hungry, Rick would roam the streets of Coakley in search of food. Leftovers from lunch or dinner and pies that were left out on the counter to cool down, prepared sandwiches that were forgotten, ... it was all an easy prey for Rick.

Currently, he turned left onto a street that led to a back alley. There were a lot less prying eyes there, and therefore, more chances of success. A quick look around assured him that no one was watching as he looked over the low walls into the backyards of the first houses, trying to find out if there was any food up for grabs. He struck out a few times until a couple of houses down the alley, he found his prey: a jar of cookies standing behind the kitchen window on the counter. Rick focussed his gaze on the window, willing it to open and instantly the latch clicked and the window opened. Keeping his eyes focussed on his prize, the jar slowly floated towards him.

"What do you think you're doing, freak?" The sound of a nearby voice made Rick jump, causing his concentration to lapse and the jar of cookies to fall to the ground and land softly into the grass.

Rick turned around and came face to face with Stephen Stryker, a local boy a couple of years older than him and known as the town's bully. Stephen was a head taller than him, had quite broad shoulders, frighteningly muscular arms and never went anywhere without his two best friends and partners in crime, Phil Taylor and Trevor Brown. Rick wasn't intimidated by him, he'd seen Stryker and his friends running away screaming when the branches of the Clayton garden had come at him but still, he always tried to stay clear from them, not looking for that kind of trouble.

"Nothing." Rick replied hastily, worried about how much Stryker had seen.

"Don't lie, you little motherless freak. Why were you spying on my house?" Stryker asked and he shoved Rick against the wall.

"Like I have nothing better to do than stare at something that ugly." Rick countered. Stryker snove.

"You're one to talk. Look at you, you look like a drowned rat. I guess you feel right at home in that sewer your live in. I'm surprised it's still standing with all the vermin that has infested it, present company included." Stryker sneered and Taylor and Brown laughed at the joke. Rick felt his temper rise. He would have liked nothing better than to teach the bully a lesson but he was acutely aware of the fact that his three opponents were all bigger and burlier than him.

"At least the vermin is nicer to look at than your mother, Stryker." Rick retaliated and Stryker abruptly stopped laughing. Rick smirked. One point for him.

"At least my mother is still alive." Stryker smiled evilly. "Where's your mother, eh?"

"Watch it, Stryker." Rick warned his opponent. He tried to stay calm but his blood was boiling with rage. Stryker had a way of getting under his skin.

"What are you going to do? In case you didn't notice, there's three of us and only one of you but I guess simple math like that is too difficult for you. Ugly and moronic, I bet your mother took one look at you and decided to kill herself." Stryker had no sooner finished his insult or Rick threw all caution to the wind and slammed his fist into Stryker mouth. The boy fell to the ground before his friends had time to register what had happened and Rick took advantage of that to pounce on Stryker and try to hit every bit of the boy he could get his hands on. It took only a few seconds for Taylor and Brown to recover from their surprise and to pull Rick off their friend. They restrained him but Rick was not ready to go down without a fight. His elbow landed with a satisfactory 'oomph' in Taylor's stomach and his fist landed on Brown's jaw before Taylor managed to grab Rick's arms and pin them to his body. Brown got back at Rick with a blow to the stomach and was getting ready for another one when Stryker stopped him.

"No, he's mine!" Stryker yelled. "Hold him." Taylor and Brown made sure Rick was securely restrained before Stryker approached, still nursing the painful jaw where Rick had struck him.

"I'll teach you to slug me." He raised his fist to punch Rick but at that moment, Taylor and Brown cried out in pain and let go of Rick. "What's going on?" Stryker demanded.

"He burned me!" Taylor cried out, blowing on his hands that were red and blistered.

"Me too." Brown cried. Stryker looked at Rick.

"How did you do that?" He asked and Rick was pleased to hear a note of apprehension and fear in his voice.

"You didn't know?" Rick replied with a laugh, a plan forming in his mind. "The old lady is a witch and she taught me some tricks."

"You're crazy and a freak." Stryker replied but he did not dare approach Rick again. "Get lost." He said and with a smirk, Rick turned around and ran away unharmed.

Only when he had gotten to a safe distance, Rick slowed down to a walk and replayed the events in his head. What exactly had happened? He had never burned anyone before. He made a mental note to try and see if he could burn other things later, maybe even start a fire. He only hoped no one besides Stryker and his friends witnessed his spout of 'magic'. No one in the town - not even mad Maggie - knew about Rick's abilities. If they did, they would lock him up in an asylum for sure.

A couple of minutes later Rick reached Clayton Manor - he couldn't call it home - and walked around the back. Using the front door would alert Mad Maggie and the less he saw her, the better. It made his life much easier. Mad Maggie did not know about his project or his powers. If she had, she would probably have gotten rid of him long ago, just like his grandmother had. Rick walked straight over to the overgrown hydrangea bush covering up the hole in the wall leading into the basement. This was his customary route in and out of the house because he did not want to alert Mad Maggie and make her to get into another tirade. Luckily, Rick was quite scrawny and he just managed to fit through the hole, though he would soon be forced to find another escape route to get out of the house without Maggie noticing it. Careful not to make a sound, he snuck up the stairs to his room. Like the rest of the house, his room had seen better days. Damp stains darkened the colour of the wallpaper, which had loosened in some places, revealing a grimy plaster wall. The wooden panels on the floor creaked and it wasn't uncommon to see mice scurrying over it in search of food. Along the ceiling ran a crack that ended in a hole, creating a passage of air to the attic. There was only one window in the room, opposite the door and overlooking Manor Road. The glass was dirty an stained and the window-frame was cracked and scaling off. The furniture had been old twenty years ago and consisted of a large oak wardrobe, a bed with a lumpy mattress and an old, shaky desk without a chair. There was no heating system in the room and although a chandelier hung from the ceiling, there was no light as all the light bulbs had burst. It looked terribly inhospitable but it was one of the better bedrooms in the house, the only better one being Mad Maggie's room.

It hadn't always been like this for Rick. Once, he had a loving home and a family that cared for him. All of that had changed when his parents were murdered.

About three years ago, a man had forced his way into their home and killed Mr. and Mrs. O'Connell. He had tried to kill Rick as well but the seven year old boy had managed to escape. With their parents dead, Rick and his siblings were put under the care of their grandmother, Mary O'Connell. Mary had always been a very strict woman and Rick was trouble in her eyes. For as long as he could remember, she had disliked him and that did not change the day she took him in. After he had played a harmless joke on his little brother, Mary had locked Rick up in the basement for punishment. The dark basement had scared the eight year old and in his panic, he had somehow blown up the cellar door. After that, Mary had sent him to Coakley to live with her sister, where he could no longer harm his siblings and where Rick felt more alone than ever. He did not mind living with Mad Maggie, half the time she did not even realize he was there, but he did miss some friendly company. It was ironic, since he had always argued with his siblings and used to wish he was an only child but now that he was, he would have loved it if they were here with him. Rick turned around in his bed, trying to ignore his growling stomach and scolding himself for thinking of his family. They were gone and he was stuck there and would be for at least another few years and the sooner he accepted that, the better. It wasn't good to dwell on the past.

13


	2. The School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

THE SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Chapter TWO

The School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

It was dark in his room. The wind was howling outside, making the branches of a tree tap against the window. He couldn't sleep, what couldn't be said for his little brother who was slightly snoring and drooling on his pillow in the next bed. Rick got out of bed. If he was quiet maybe he could sneak downstairs into the kitchen and grab a cookie from the batch his mother had baked that afternoon. Careful not to make a noise, he made his way down stairs and found his way into the kitchen, undetected by his parents who were in the living room watching television. The cookie jar was still on the counter. He opened it and took a cookie and put it in his mouth. They were delicious. He ate two, three, four and he was just grabbing a fifth when his mother unexpectedly appeared at the scene of the crime.

"Richard O'Connell, you should be in bed!" Rick froze and looked sheepishly at his mother.

"I couldn't sleep." He tried to explain.

"Well you certainly won't be able to sleep now with all that sugar in you." His mom replied annoyed. She took the cookie jar from him, closed it and put it on top of the cupboard.

"Come on, let's get you back to bed." She had not finished her sentence when they heard the front door burst open with a crash. Both occupants of the kitchen froze, staring at the door leading to the hall. Rick heard his father's confront the unwelcome visitor, but a green flash so bright Rick could see the glow from under the living room door quickly silenced him. Rick didn't understand what was happening but his mother seemed scared.

"Hide! There!" She whispered quietly and urgently, opening a cupboard door storing a range of cleaning products and pushing him in. "Don't make a sound, no matter what you hear." And with that, she closed the cupboard door. Through a crack Rick saw his mother grabbing a kitchen knife and hurrying to the living room to help her husband. She's only just disappeared behind the door when Rick heard her yell in fright. He wanted to go out there and help but she had told him to stay put and he was terrified. He calmed down somewhat when he heard voices. The intruder and his mother were talking now but although Rick was straining his ears to hear what they were saying, he couldn't make out the words. At least his mother seemed unharmed and he was starting to think everything would be alright. The intruder and his mother were talking and the man would leave and they would be fine. His mother's blood curdling scream a few minutes later made him freeze. He could no longer just sit by, he wanted to help her. He made to get out of his hiding place to go help her but before he could, the living room door swung open and his mother stumbled through it, a big, hairy shadow on top of her. It wasn't human but it wasn't like any animal Rick had ever seen. The beast's claws tore open the his mother's throat and she fell to the ground, her lifeless glassy eyes staring right into Rick's. Rick stared back into his mother's eyes, frozen, unable to comprehend fully what had just happened. He soon became aware of panting and another pair of eyes staring at him. The beast was staring right at him, a murderous look in its feral eyes. There was something almost human about his face but Rick didn't get the time to study it long. With unnatural speed the beast lunged forward. Rick was just able to close the cupboard door again but it was no match for the strength of the beast. With its long claws, it tore right through it and Rick pressed himself against the back wall. He had no way out. The foul smell of the beast reached his nostrils. The creature extended its arm, its bloody claws slowly grasping Rick's shirt. He tried to get away, to free himself from the creature's grasp but there was something wrong with his legs. He tried to run but his legs were so heavy he couldn't move them. This was not supposed to happen!

Thunder struck again and with a jolt, an older Rick bolted upright in his bed, panting heavily. His shirt was soaked and cold sweat covered his forehead. Quickly he scanned his room, looking for the beast but the only things he saw were his usual, worn-down furniture pieces, the damp stains on the wall and the crack in the ceiling. He lay back down, rubbing his aching shoulder and tried to calm his racing heart, repeating to himself that it had been a dream, that he was safe. It wasn't the first time he'd had that dream, he'd had it a number of times since his parents were killed, always the same one. He'd see the monster kill his mother and see it come after him next and he wouldn't be able to get away this time. 'You did get away' he repeated to himself to make his racing heart calm down. The monster had come after him in the cupboard and had torn his shoulder open trying to pull the boy out, only to pull its bloodied paw back in pain seconds later, blisters and burn marks covering it. Not willing to touch the boy again, the creature had backhanded Rick, knocking him unconscious. When Rick had come to, it was in the hospital, where they told him his parents had died and he was to live with his paternal grandmother with his brother and sisters. Rick still felt guilty about not being able to save his mother that night and he often spent hours after a nightmare, coming up with things he should have done differently to save his mother. Tonight was no different and Rick lay awake for hours tormenting himself until he finally drifted back to sleep.

When he awoke again, the sun was already high in the sky. It had to be a little before noon he suspected and he wondered what had awoken him. He thought it had been the doorbell but that had to be a mistake, no one ever came calling at the Clayton House. He had to have been dreaming so he dismissed the idea and started thinking about what he would do that day when Mad Maggie's voice rang up the stairs.

"Boy, get down here!" She yelled. Wondering what he had done wrong this time, Rick took his time going down the stairs. When he got to the hall, he could hear a voice coming from the living room, a voice that was distinctly not Mad Maggie's. He wondered who it could be. Had Mrs. Taylor or Mrs. Brown finally been true to their word and called the police on him? Or perhaps Stryker and his friends had told someone what they'd seen and they were here to take him to the loony bin. Rick crept closer, trying not to make a sound. All sorts of wild theories and crazy escape plans were running through his mind. If it was the police, he had two options, make a run for it or try to fight them off with magic, though that would probably make him even more of a target. Maybe he needed to let them take him away and make a run for it on route? In any case, he wasn't about to let them lock him away. He peered around the living room door, fully expecting to see uniformed people talking to his guardian but what he actually saw threw him off completely. Sitting on an old chair was a strangely dressed young woman. A large yellow pointy hat sat on top of her head and she was wearing a long bright yellow dress to match it. He could not see her face – she was sitting sideways from him - but her voice was rather high and shrill. Who could this be? At that moment, Mad Maggie caught sight of him.

"Get over here boy, you have a visitor." She said brusquely, interrupting the young woman's explanation. Rick stepped forward as the strange woman got up and turned to greet him. He could now see that she had a kind, round face with big blue eyes and a friendly, welcoming smile as he walked up to her. She was hardly taller than he was, even though she must have had at least twenty years on him. She offered her hand in greeting.

"Richard O'Connell, I presume?" She asked enthusiastically, a big smile on her face.

"Yes?" Rick replied, rather unsure what to make of this woman. People were generally not friendly towards him and when they were, it usually meant their intentions were not sincere.

"I am professor Harewell and I am here with exciting news for you." It certainly seemed exciting to her, he thought.

"Professor?" He inquired, checking to see he heard correctly.

"Yes, I am here to discuss your future school career with you and your parents, or in this case, guardian." She motioned to Mad Maggie, who did not look to be at all pleased at having the strange woman there. Now Rick was really on his guard. A professor who wanted to talk about school and thought it would excite him? This was going to be bad. Fortunately, Mad Maggie seemed to feel the same way.

"I don't know why you bother." She said. "The boy's an idiot, hasn't been to school in years." Good old Mad Maggie, at least she was good for something.

"That will be no problem, Madam, he can still attend." Harewell replied, completely undisturbed. "Please, Richard, take a seat so that we can talk." She addressed him. Her enthusiastic manner was starting to annoy Rick. He also didn't care for her use of his full name, no one ever called him that and he didn't think she could say anything that could possibly interest him but he was curious as to the undoubtedly idiotic idea that was going to follow so he obliged and took a seat on the armrest of an old, broken sofa as Harewell sat back down on the rickety chair she'd occupied before.

The living room was a complete mess as it had probably not been properly cleaned in over a decade. The curtains were full of moth holes, the floor was strewn with wrappers and empty boxes of crackers, dirty dishes, some of which you could no longer tell what they had contained were littering every available surface and some had even been left on the floor. A thick layer of dust covered practically everything in the room, except for the bottles of liquor on the floor and the couch where Mad Maggie usually snored the morning away in an alcohol infused haze. Harewell looked appalled as she looked around the room. pulling up her nose when she caught sight of a dish with something hairy on it that used to be food. Rick was intrigued by this woman, the way she kept smiling, her dress, her reason for coming here. Mad Maggie was right, he hadn't been to school in three years so why was she here to offer him a place now?

"So, who sent you?" The professor seemed a little taken aback at Mad Maggie's accusatory tone.

"I'm a professor, I was sent here to offer your nephew a place at our school." Harewell explained.

"What school? He doesn't go to school." Maggie scoffed. "Besides, what school would want him? He's a little criminal." Harewell threw a curious look at Rick, who felt Maggie had some nerve calling him a criminal when she was the one forcing him to steal food because she spent all her money on liquor. He let the insult slide. She was doing a good job preventing him from having to go to school, after all.

"Well, this is no ordinary school." Harewell continued undeterred in her normal cheery tone. Rick's ears pricked up. No ordinary school? He did not like the sound of that. What school was this that it offered him, who everyone agreed was a juvenile delinquent, a place, unless it was an institution of some sort?

"What kind of school are we talking about?" He asked suspiciously, mentally going over his options if the answer meant spending any time locked up.

"Hogwarts is a school for wizards." Absolute silence followed Harewell's answer. That was absolutely the last thing Rick expected her to say. Who was this woman? Did she see him using magic? Was she trying to make him incriminate himself?

"Excuse me?" Rick said, trying to look completely oblivious to what she was talking about. "There's no such thing as wizards." Harewell looked temporarily taken aback but the smile on her face quickly reappeared.

"I think you know they do, Mr. O'Connell. You are a wizard so I have come here to offer you an education in the ways of magic." The strange woman replied calmly. "A place has been reserved for you since your birth." She was still smiling and it was really annoying him.

"And what makes you think I am a wizard?" He challenged her.

"Are you not able to do strange things when you feel a strong emotion? Perhaps you do not fully comprehend your powers, do not know what they are but that is magic, Mr O'Connell." Rick was starting to feel uncomfortable, this woman knew too much for his comfort.

"And they say I'm crazy." Mad Maggie piped up and Rick startled at the sound of her voice. He'd forgotten she was there. "Don't think I don't know what they say about me, what they call me. 'Mad Maggie'. And you walk in here, trying to make me look like a fool even more? Not today, lady. Get out of my house!" Maggie's voice had been steadily rising and now she resorted to shrieking. For the first time, Rick saw Harewell's ridiculous smile disappear and replaced by a slight look of alarm. "Show her out, boy!" Maggie yelled and Rick got up to guide their guest out of the house.

"You're wrong, professor." Rick explained more calmly as he accompanied Harewell to the hallway. "Whatever you may have seen or whatever someone may have told you, I cannot make objects fly." Professor Harewell's smile reappeared at his denial.

"Yes you can, Mr. O'Connell and so can I." She pulled a thin wooden stick from the pocket of her dress and simply waved it over Rick's shoulder. Immediately, all the dirty dishes in the living room got up of their own accord and danced towards the kitchen, the cutlery in tow. Mad Maggie started screaming at the top of her lungs, terrified at what was happening and swatting at the forks marching around her head. Rick did not pay her any attention, instead looking back and forth from the strange spectacle to the intriguing woman standing before him and he realized that she was not joking after all.

"Do you mean to say that there are more people who can do what I can and I can go to a school to learn to use magic?" He asked amazed, now sharing some of Harewell's enthusiasm.

"Of course." Harewell replied smiling. "That is what I've been trying to tell you." Rick's mind was reeling. A wizard? And he could go to wizarding school? This had to be a dream! For a moment he felt the urge to pinch himself to make sure it wasn't.

"You should know, Mr. O'Connell," Harewell continued as they moved further into the hall to block out Maggie's screaming, "that the magical community values its secrecy. Therefore, wizards and witches do not perform magic in public where all muggles can see it. If you are to join our community, you should also obey these rules. From the moment you get your wand, the ministry of magic will be able to trace any and all magic you perform illegally, until you come of age." Rick barely caught a word of Harewell's explanation. He had so many questions. What were muggles? He was getting a wand? There was a ministry of magic?

"I have a letter for you here. It contains a list of all the things you'll need this school year. There is also a letter included with additional information." Harewell explained as she handed him an envelope made of a thick and heavy yellowish parchment and the address written in bright green ink on the front. Rick turned it over in his hands and opened the red seal on the back imprinted with a coat of arms to reveal the letter it contained.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Tiberius Aldebourne (Member of the Wizengamot, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr. O'Connell,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Alistair Lloyd

Deputy Headmaster

"I really should be explaining this to your aunt as well." Harewell said concerned with a look at the living room where said woman was still screaming her head off. "She might not understand." Rick was sure Maggie wouldn't understand and he was in no hurry to try and explain it to her.

"How does this work?" Rick asked indicating the letter and simultaneously distracting the professor from Mad Maggie. Professor Harewell smiled at Rick's enthusiasm.

"If you decide to go, you will buy your school supplies on Diagon Alley, a magical street in London that can only be found by a person with magical abilities. After that, you will go to King's Cross station on September 1 and take the Hogwarts Express from platform 93/4. You'll find your ticket in the envelope." Harewell answered his question eagerly. "But I can explain this better with your aunt present. Could we get back inside -?"

"I'll explain it to her later, once she's calmed down a bit." Rick interrupted her. "I'll make sure she understands." The professor looked a bit unsure but then seemed to decide to let the matter drop.

"You should also know that platform 93/4 only exists for wizards. It can be found by crossing the barrier between platforms nine and ten. The train will take you directly to Hogwarts where you will spend the rest of the school year. Of course, you can choose to return home during the Christmas and Easter holidays, if you wish." She explained. Rick let it all sink in for a minute. He always knew there was something special about him but a magic school? Magic was that common that they had magical shops and trains? It was all a little much to take in so sudden.

"How come I've never met another wizard before?" Rick wondered. Half an hour ago, he had thought he was the only one with magical powers but now it seemed there were enough wizards around to be in need of a school.

"Like I said, we choose to not overtly practise magic. That way, muggles have no knowledge of us and they can have no reason to fear us." Harewell explained.

"So do you have to have parents who are wizards in order to be one?" Rick asked.

"Not necessarily." The professor answered. "Sometimes it occurs that a child of non-magic folk has magic in him or her. We do not know why or how it occurs but it does." 'That explains that.' Rick thought. His parents must have been non-magic folk. He had only been seven when they died but that was not too young to remember that he never saw them do the things he could. This school sounded amazing but a hollow feeling soon overtook him. Amazing things often cost a lot of money, money he did not have.

"I haven't any money." He told Harewell dejectedly. The professor did not seem surprised.

"That is not a problem, Hogwarts has a special fund for students who need help buying their supplies." She retrieved a small purse from inside her robes. Rick could not believe it, it was almost too good to be true. "I should tell you that wizard money is not like muggle money." Harewell went on, smiling as she noticed Rick's amazed expression.

"We have galleons, sickles and knuts. There are 29 knuts in a sickle and 17 sickles in a galleon. However, I must warn you that although the money in this purse will suffice to buy your necessary supplies, you may have to buy some things second-hand and it would be unwise to squander it." Rick nodded in understanding but he only half heeded the warning. Any way he looked at it, for the first time in his life he had money to buy things. He smiled as he realized he would be leaving this place to attend a magic school. He felt happier than he could ever remember being. He was getting out of this life and he would learn how to be a wizard!

"What are muggles?" He asked, eager to learn everything about the wizarding world.

"People with no magical abilities." Harewell clarified. "Shall I take it then that you will be attending?"

"Yes, definitely." Rick happily answered.

"Good. Here are the directions you need to follow in order to get to Diagon Alley." She handed him another little piece of parchment with a London address on it. "Don't forget, your aunt will not be able to see the pub so you'll have to help her find it. If you get in any kind of trouble, I'm sure the landlord, Albert, will be happy to help you." Professor Harewell looked at her wrist watch. "I must be going now. I will see you at Hogwarts at the beginning of term." She said and she walked up to the front door. Rick actually felt a bit put off that she was leaving already. There were so many things he wanted to ask her. He wanted to know more about Hogwarts, about wizards and witches, about magic. He had so many questions, they must all have congested his throat as none of them made it out and he stood by and watched as professor Harewell walked to the door and stepped outside.

"Best of luck, then." She said before she turned around and walked down the path in the front yard. Rick turned to look at the letter still in his hands as the professor left and when he looked up again, Harewell had disappeared. He looked to the right up the street and then to the left but he could see no trace of her and was left wondering where she had gotten off to that quickly.

25


	3. Diagon Alley

DIAGON ALLEY

Chapter THREE

Diagon Alley

August passed in a blur and Rick spent most of it avoiding the neighbourhood bullies and practising magic in the garden. Although Harewell had warned him about practicing magic in public, Rick couldn't find anything else to do to relieve his boredom and as he had not yet gotten a wand, he felt he was still safe. Before he knew it, it was the end of the summer holidays and Rick had still not told Mad Maggie that he would be leaving for Hogwarts at the end of the month and that he would be gone for the better part of a year. She had been hysterical after Harewell's visit but after a few bottles of her favourite drink, she had apparently decided that the whole scene had been a dream and to make his own life easier, Rick had decided not to help her out of it. So on the last day of summer, Rick packed a backpack with a few clothes, personal items and enough money for a single trip to London, announced he was leaving for boarding school and promptly left the Clayton house. The entire walk to the train station he expected Mad Maggie would come running after him to try and stop him. Rationally, he knew she wouldn't as she'd have to care about him for her to do that but he wanted this more than anything and he was wary of anything that could come between it. Naturally, that meant that he kept imagining the most horrific things to happen, no matter how implausible.

The journey to London was long, tedious and uncomfortable as the other passengers kept throwing disgusted glares at his unkempt appearance. Most of them probably thought he was part of the underclass with his unruly hair, his worn out clothes and his general look of negligence. He was glad when he finally reached the capital to get away from their stares and whispers. Disappearing in the mass of people in the busy London streets, Rick went in search of a little pub called _The Leaky Cauldron_ using the instructions Harewell had given him. His search was made more difficult by the many people bumping into him. However, if it hadn't been for that man who had crashed into him, nearly making him plant his face on the pavement, he would probably have walked straight passed his destination. The pub was exceptionally small with only an inconspicuous sign above the front door that said _'The Leaky Cauldron'_. Rick felt a rush of fulfilment and a sense of comfort now that he had found the pub and with it, his doorway to the magical world. He hadn't had any reason to doubt

Harewell's story about wizards after her demonstration but still, he had had some pangs of doubts, as often happens when one finds oneself alone in an unknown situation. Happy that at least this part of Harewell's story was correct, Rick opened the

heavy door. It became clear immediately that this was not a regular pub - not that he had ever been to one - he just did not think 'muggle' pubs managed to collect such a strange assortment of clientele. Sitting at a nearby table was a man with a turban and a gown, slurping at a bowl of something green and lumpy that looked really disgusting. Bent lowly over the bar was a man - or woman, he could not tell - completely swaddled in a hooded cloak. The most ugly midget he had ever seen was sitting at the table to his left, gnawing at a piece of raw meat and some fungi. Rick quickly looked away when the creature caught him staring and threw him a very menacing look. Rick passed the smaller tables and took a seat by the bar, wondering if he could pilfer a drink without the innkeeper noticing.

Just then, a young family walked through the front door, consisting of a mother, father and three children, two older teenagers and a girl that looked to be around Rick's age. Like Rick, they were looking around in wonder, making Rick suspect they were 'muggles'. The father, a tall man with light brown hair and startling blue eyes stepped up to the bar.

"Is this where we can find the entrance to something called Diagon Alley?" He asked the innkeeper unsure.

"Yes, sir. Just go out the back, walk up to the wall and tap three times on the third brick up and two across." The innkeeper explained.

"Thank you." The man said. "Also, can I order five soda's for that table over there, please?"

"We don't serve soda's." The innkeeper replied. "Perhaps butterbeer for the little ones?"

"Butterbeer?" The man repeated, sounding a little amazed. "Er, sure." The innkeeper busied himself with glasses and five butterbeers as the man walked back to his family, who anxiously waited for him to relate what he had learned. The innkeeper moved away from the bar to deliver the drinks and Rick saw his opportunity. He focussed on the bottles of butterbeer behind the bar and made one fly towards him. He deftly grabbed it and tucked it under his jacket before he got up and quickly made his way to the backdoor. He had just put his hand on the door handle when the innkeeper's voice made him freeze.

"Are you going to pay for that, boy?" Surprised the innkeeper had even seen him, Rick decided acting innocent was his best bet.

"Pay for what?" He asked.

"The bottle you have under your jacket." The innkeeper clarified, approaching him. Several of the customers had stopped what they were doing to watch the scene unfold, including the little family.

"What bottle?" No sooner had the words left his mouth or the innkeeper flicked out his wand and the bottle left its hiding place and flew to its owner's hand.

"This bottle." The innkeeper said dryly.

"Oh that bottle." Rick replied as if he'd only just noticed it now.

"I should report you to the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol." The innkeeper said so only Rick could hear him. Rick supposed that the Law Enforcement Patrol was the magical version of the police. "Where are your parents?" The innkeeper asked disapprovingly.

"They're dead." Rick replied callously. The innkeeper's demeanour changed immediately.

"You're here alone?" He asked, his anger turning to concern.

"Yes." Rick replied again. The innkeeper contemplated Rick for a moment and then placed the captured bottle back on the shelf, poured a glass of water and placed it in front of Rick.

"Water's free." He said. "Don't let me catch you stealing again or I will report you." Rick nodded and downed the glass of water gratefully. He noticed the other customers were giving him disapproving looks.

"I need to get to Diagon Alley." He told the innkeeper, eager to get out of the pub now.

"Your first time to Hogwarts eh?" Rick nodded. "Very well, come with me." The innkeeper led Rick through the backdoor which opened into a small enclosed courtyard that looked rather shabby and unclean. "Three up and two across." The innkeeper explained as he tapped said brick three times. Immediately, the brick began to wriggle and move and to Rick's great surprise, all the bricks around it cleared to form a passageway to a narrow but busy shopping street. "There you go, Diagon Alley." The innkeeper announced. Rick stepped through the portal. It was incredible. Every shop was as interesting as the next. To his left was _Potage's Cauldron Shop_ which sold cauldrons in all colours and sizes. On display was a massive cauldron, it's golden colour catching the sunlight and next to the entrance was a cauldron that appeared to stir itself. To his right was a narrow apothecary where different ingredients were on display. Rick didn't go for a closer look as the smell coming from the shop was appalling but he could make out a barrel full of what looked like maggots, another filled with bugs and another with what looked like small eyeballs. It looked disgusting but at the same time oddly fascinating. He passed a shop with all sizes of owls, another with broomsticks that could fly and he even passed one with a strange metal object in the window that made noise and spun around. He really did not have enough eyes to take everything in, he could spend days walking around here and still not be bored. He did not think there was anything you could not find here. About halfway down the street, the quaint little shops gave way to a huge white marble building called _Gringott's Bank_. Rick admired it for a few minutes, almost sorry that he did not need to enter it until he heard someone clear their throat. Looking for the source of the noise, Rick stepped back in alarm when he saw two weird looking creatures by the bank's doors. They must have been related to the ugly midget he saw at the Leaky Cauldron because they had the same long pointy noses, huge ears and the same menacing look on their faces.

"In or out, human." One of them croaked and Rick decided it was best to get a move on. _He took out the list he had gotten from Harewell and tried to decide what to buy first and where._

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

UNIFORM  
First year students will require:  
sets of plain work robes (black)  
plain pointed hat (black) for day wear  
pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)  
winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)  
Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.

COURSE BOOKS  
All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk  
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot  
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling  
A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch  
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore  
The Art of Potion Making by Silas Selwyn  
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander  
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT  
1 wand  
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)  
1 set glass or crystal phials  
1 telescope  
1 set brass scales

Students may also bring and owl OR a cat OR a toad.

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

He decided to get his wand first because it was the thing he had most been looking forward to getting. Down the street to the other end of Diagon Alley he found a shop called _Ollivander's: Makers of Fine Wands Since 382 B.C._ It looked like a good place to start. The bell above the door rang as he entered the little shop and the three people in the shop looked up to see who had come in. Rick assumed the man with brown hair dappled with specks of grey who stood behind the counter was the shop owner, Mr. Ollivander. The other two were obviously customers, a woman and a boy about the same age as Rick, probably there to buy his first wand as well. The boy and his mother were dressed in rather fancy robes which stood in stark contrast with Rick's torn jeans and faded T-shirt. They did not pay him much attention and while they continued shopping for a wand, Rick took the time to take a look around. It was dark and cramped in the shop, owing to the walls being packed to the ceiling with long small boxes, which he could only assume contained wands. He tried to make an estimate of how many there were but it was simply impossible. How did anyone ever choose? Suddenly, the shop owner cheered and Rick looked over to the young boy holding a wand. Apparently, he had found his wand.

"An excellent choice, Mr. Mordaunt!" Mr. Ollivander said. He packed the chosen wand back in its box and handed it over to the boy's mother who paid several gold coins for it.

"Come, Livius." She said haughtily and she made her way to the door. Rick tried not to stare at her but he could not stop himself, the woman was oddly fascinating. She was very pretty and looked quite regal in her dark green robe, detailed with small gems and she carried herself as if she thought herself better than everyone else. When she caught sight of Rick near the door and looked him in the eyes, there was a hint of surprise in her beautiful face, quickly followed by obvious disgust. Rick figured she was quite appalled by his appearance.

"Mother?" The boy inquired as he came up to see what had captured his mother's attention. He was about the same height as Rick, with the same jet black hair, only his was combed neatly in place while Rick's was quite messy. The boy followed his mother's gaze and looked at Rick with disdain, as if he was a speck of mud on his newly polished boots. Rick felt quite indignant and uncomfortable under their stare, as if he was some zoo animal but the son's voice shook the mother out of her daze and she quickly averted her gaze and exited the shop, her son trailing behind her. Rick's eyes followed the boy and his mother out onto the street and into another store named _'Twilfitt & Tattings'_ and he decided he did not much like them.

"Good day. Welcome to Ollivander's, makers of fine wands since 382 BC, Mr…?" Rick jumped slightly when Mr. Ollivander suddenly appeared right next to him.

"O'Connell." Rick answered. "Rick O'Connell."

"First time going to Hogwarts then, Mr. O'Connell?" Mr Ollivander asked.

"Yes." Rick replied. "I need a wand."

"Excellent, you have come to the right place. Ollivander's makes the finest wands, even if I do say so myself. The business has been in our family for centuries and each generation has made its contribution to wandlore in order to produce the finest wands." He smiled as he got out a measuring tape. "What is your staff arm?" He looked at Rick expectantly.

"Er, well, I'm left if that's what you mean." Rick answered and Ollivander began measuring his height, the length of his arm, the length of his finger, the length from his wrist to his elbow and so on.

"Good." Ollivander said and left to rummage through some boxes while the measuring tape continued its work all by itself. Rick tried to see what the shopkeeper was doing while simultaneously trying to keep an eye on the tape that was currently measuring the width of his head.

"Every wand is different, Mr. O'Connell and no two are alike, just as no two persons are alike." Mr. Ollivander was saying from the back of the shop. "We use cores which enhance magical abilities like a unicorn hair, dragon heartstring or the feather of a phoenix. Each have unique properties. We may guess which wand will go well with a wizard but ultimately, it is the wand that chooses the wizard. Wandlore is not an exact science." Ollivander came back carrying a couple of the thin boxes and waved his hand. The measuring tape fell to the ground.

"Here, try this one." He said as he got out a wand and presented it to Rick. "Ash and phoenix feather, 10.8 inches, nice and bendy. Well, give it a wave!" Ollivander instructed when Rick just stood there with the wand in his hand. Rick obliged and waved the wand around a bit, feeling rather silly but the older man quickly removed it from his hand.

"No, no. Here, try this one. Holly and unicorn hair, 11.2 inches, has a nice swing. Excellent for charm work." Again Rick took the wand and waved it around and again Ollivander took it from his hand. The process repeated itself several times and the pile of discarded wands grew bigger and bigger. Rick wondered what Mr. Ollivander was waiting for. He tried and tried but the old man just never seemed to be completely satisfied. After what felt like the millionth wand he had held, Mr. Ollivander came back from one of the shelves at the back of the store carrying a very dusty small box. He took out the black wand that was inside it and presented it to Rick.

"Maybe this one. Yes, an uncommon combination, ebony wood combined with a dragon heartstring core, 13.4 inches, reasonably pliable and quite good for transfiguration. Try it." Rick took it and immediately felt his hand grow warm. He lifted the wand high and let it swoosh back down, creating a fountain of silver and gold sparks.

"Bravo! Well done." Ollivander cheered and Rick could not help but smile, relieved he had found a wand. He handed his new wand back to Ollivander who put it back in its box and began to wrap it.

"Interesting." Ollivander said. "You are sure to become a powerful wizard, Mr. O'Connell. This particular wand has lain in this store for quite a while. It was made by my grandfather who collected the heartstring from a particularly powerful and nasty dragon. Combined with ebony wood, this wand will only align itself to those that are worthy of its power." Rick grinned, he quite liked the sound of that. He paid Ollivander for his wand and left the small shop feeling elated. This had been the first step towards becoming a true wizard and starting his new life. Wand in possession, Rick checked his list again to get some idea of where to go next. The purchase of his wand had been a costly affair, he would have to buy a lot of things second-hand if he hoped to be able to get everything on his list. He was so engrossed by the list that he did not notice where he was going and next he knew, he bumped into someone and fell to the ground.

"Sorry." He mumbled immediately and he looked up to face his victim. It was a boy about his age. He was a bit smaller than Rick, had quite fair skin, short blond hair and piercing blue eyes that were almost unnatural. The boy quickly crawled around on all fours to gather all the things he'd dropped when Rick bumped into him.

"It's nothing. My fault anyway. I shouldn't have stopped in the middle of a busy street." He was saying as he grabbed his copy of _Magical Theory_ and stuffed it back into his cauldron with his other books before he jumped up and introduced himself.

"I'm Robert." He offered his hand in greeting and Rick shook it.

"Rick. Are you going to Hogwarts as well?"

"Yes. You too?" Rick nodded. "I can hardly wait. I can't believe it's my turn to go. I've heard so many stories about Hogwarts from my dad and, well, I guess your parents must have too." Robert said a bit embarrassed.

"No." Rick replied neutrally.

"Oh. Are your parents muggles?" The other boy asked curiously.

"No, my parents died." Like everyone who found out, Robert faltered and looked embarrassed, unsure how to react.

"Oh, sorry." He apologized. Rick shrugged as if it was nothing and quickly moved away from the topic of his dead parents.

"So where are your parents?"

"My mom didn't come and my dad is doing something for work in there." He gestured behind him. It looked to be some kind of travel agency with posters plastered on the window depicting scenes of exotic locations. What was funny about them, was that the pictures were moving! Rick was still taking in that new discovery when Robert interrupted him.

"So, what house do you think you'll be in?" Rick tore his gaze from the moving pictures. He did not have the slightest clue what the other boy was talking about.

"Uh, what?" Understanding dawned on Robert's face.

"Oh, of course, you don't know. Well, Hogwarts has four houses and we get sorted into one of them. There's Gryffindor, home of the brave, Ravenclaw, that's where the smart ones go. Huffelpuff is where the honest and hardworking go and Slytherin... well Slytherin is the house of the underhanded and slimy ones." Rick had to smirk at the boy's colourful description.

"So where do you think you're going then?" He asked Robert.

"I hope it's Ravenclaw, same as my dad." Robert explained.

"Do kids always get into the same house as their parents?" Rick asked.

"Not always." Robert explained. "I heard this one student, his parents were both in Hufflepuff but when he got sorted-" Rick never learned where the student got sorted because that moment his attention was drawn by the arrogant boy from Ollivander's and his mother walking by again. Neither noticed him this time but Robert caught him staring at them.

"The Mordaunts." He said darkly.

"You know them?" Rick tore his gaze from young Mordaunt's back and turned to look at Robert.

"My dad told me about them. They think themselves better than others because they're purebloods. Rubbish, but they do have a lot of influence."

"How so?" Rick asked.

"Lucius Mordaunt is good friends with Burwell."

"Burwell?"

"Tobias Burwell, the Minister of Magic. My dad says it's because the Mordaunts fill the minister's pockets. And I'll bet that Mordaunt's son will be just as slimy and sneaky as his father. He'll be in Slytherin for sure." Just then a man walked out of the store behind them and came their way. He was unmistakably Robert's father, he looked exactly like him.

"You ready, Rob?" The man asked his son.

"Yes." Robert answered. "I guess I'll see you around at Hogwarts then." He said to Rick.

"Yeah." Rick answered and he watched Robert and his father disappear into the crowd. Robert seemed like a nice enough boy but somehow Rick felt they would not become best friends. Robert described Ravenclaw as a house for smart students and Rick was pretty sure that was not the house for him. He hated studying, had never been a good student and found that most people who were or wanted to be, were brownnosers. He put Robert and his father out of his mind and looked around, trying to get an idea of where to go next. His eye fell on the sign of a shop _'Second Hand Robes'_ and he thought it best to check it out. It was really quite a large shop but inside it looked exactly the opposite because of the sheer quantity of robes displayed. Along the back wall, between racks of old robes that had probably been in fashion a hundred years ago, Rick found a rack of regular black Hogwarts robes. There wasn't much choice. There were robes with holes in them, others had clearly been patched up several times and still others were so worn that they were not even black anymore but a shade of grey. Rick picked out the ones that still looked somewhat decent, they were a bit too large but he supposed he would grow into them. He didn't like having to buy things second-hand but he had no other choice and at least they were better than the worn and tattered clothes he wore now. After he paid the witch from the second hand robe shop, he went to a junk shop where he was able to get most of his books, a collection of glass phials all different sizes and shapes, a cauldron, scales and a telescope for a small price. The books had stains on them which made some pages difficult to read and the scales were missing some weights but he did not mind it, he doubted he would be using them much. At least the cauldron he bought did not have holes in it like some of the others did. He passed Gringott's again and stopped at _Flourish and Blotts_ , a book shop where he picked up a copy of _The Art of Potion Making_ by _Silas Selwyn_ , the only book he had not been able to find in the second-hand shops. The book shop was quite impressive, the sheer quantity of books stacked on the shelves made Rick think that there was not a book you could not find here. He leafed through some interesting ones about curses and jinxes but they looked quite advanced and after some inquisitive looks from the shopkeeper he just paid for _The Art of Potion Making_ and left. He stopped in front of _Quality Quidditch Supplies_ to admire the brooms for quite a while. He tried to imagine what it would feel like to fly and really wished he could buy a broom but he knew he didn't have enough money. He left the store with a hollow feeling in his stomach but it did not last long. Even if he could not afford most of the stuff in the shop windows, Rick had a great time looking at them, there was so much to see and be enchanted by. He briefly considered buying a pet as he stood in front of _Eeylops Owl Emporium_ _('All Kinds of Owls for All Your Mail')_ but then decided against it. A post owl would have been great but who would he write to? He certainly did not wish to write to Mad Maggie when he was at Hogwarts and he knew no one else he could write to. Finally, he bought his potion ingredients at the apothecary and by the time he had everything on his list, the day was drawing to a close. Rick's muscles were aching from hauling all his stuff back and forth and when he finally got back to the Leaky Cauldron, he realized he did not have a place to sleep that night. He deposited his trunk full of school supplies in a corner of the little pub and took a seat at one of the tables.

"If it isn't our little thief." The innkeeper greeted him. "What can I get you?" Rick checked his money pouch.

"What can I get for 2 sickles and 36 knuts?" He asked.

"Planning on paying this time?" The innkeeper chaffed. "Let's see, for that amount I can get you some pea soup." Rick paid the innkeeper who came back a few minutes later with a plate of weird looking green soup. It was a meagre meal but he had had worse. To try and divert his attention from his still grumbling stomach, Rick entertained himself by observing the other patrons. Hour after hour, the pub became more deserted, until it was close to midnight and the last customer left, leaving only Rick behind.

"You are quite possibly the worst customer I've ever had." The innkeeper grumbled as he cleared the tables and turned the chairs. "First, you try to steal from me and then you come back and occupy a table, ordering one single soup for the entire evening. Don't you need to go home and get some sleep?" If he had not been so tired, Rick might have told the innkeeper to mind his own business.

"I can't go home," he explained. "I need to catch the train tomorrow."

"It _is_ tomorrow." Said the innkeeper as he moved to clean the bar. "I can rent you a room for the night, if you like."

"Thanks, but I haven't any money." Rick replied again.

"Well, you can't stay here all night, I'm about to close."

"You're tossing me out on the street?" Rick asked innocently. "All alone, young and helpless?" The innkeeper lifted an eyebrow.

"I'm not sure you fit that description." He grumbled. Rick became a little alarmed now. Where was he going to go with a trunk full of magical things?

"Please?" He pleaded. The innkeeper looked at him, seemingly trying to decide if Rick was being sincere. Finally he sighed and took pity on the boy.

"Come on, you can sleep in my office." He said.

"I thought you said you had free rooms?" Rick asked confused.

"Those are for paying customers." The innkeeper replied curtly. "Be thankful I don't toss you out on the street." He led Rick to a back room with a desk in it and magically made a bed appear. If he hadn't been so tired, Rick would have asked how he did that. Instead, he watched fascinated as the newly formed bed magically sprouted a pillow and blanket. The innkeeper left Rick to get settled but hesitated before closing the door.

"Don't bother trying to steal anything, I counted everything." And with that, he closed the door behind him. Rick plopped down on the bed and was asleep within seconds.

41


	4. The Hogwarts Express

THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS

Chapter FOUR

The Hogwarts Express

Rick woke up the next morning from someone shaking his shoulder.

"Wake up boy or you'll miss your train." It took Rick a moment to identify the gruff voice of the barkeeper and even longer for the meaning to get through to him. With a jolt he bolted upright and looked at the clock. It was already ten o'clock, he needed to hurry if he wanted to get to King's Cross and catch the train. Rick tossed the last of his newly acquired school supplies haphazardly in his trunk and dragged it downstairs. He said a quick goodbye to Albert the innkeeper before he stepped through the front door back into the muggle world. The sun was already shining brightly, making his long trek to King's Cross Station that much more exhausting. He got more than a few curious stares from the muggles in his ragged clothing and dragging his heavy trunk but Rick pressed on, eager to get to the station in time. When he finally reached his destination and managed to drag his trunk onto a trolley, his shirt was drenched in sweat and his muscles were aching but he had no time to dwell on that because it was already ten to eleven and he still had to find the right platform. Finding platforms nine and ten was not that difficult, it was finding the one that lay in between that was a bit more challenging. Even after he had seen brick walls move to clear a passageway, seen flying brooms and self-stirring cauldrons in Diagon Alley, Rick was still a bit doubtful about walking straight into a wall. Everything Harewell had said had turned out to be true so far, so he really had no reason to expect her to lie about this. Perhaps it was the fact that the barrier looked decisively real and he did not feel like cracking his skull against a brick wall that made him feel a little unsure about it all. Rick looked at the large clock, it was five to eleven. If he was going to do it, he shouldn't wait any longer. Without thinking, he set his trolley on a collision course with the wall and broke out in a run. He did not stop even though the wall was getting closer and closer. Three feet from the brick wall, he could not stop anymore even if he wanted to and he could not help but close his eyes as he was about to collide with it. The expected blow did not come, instead the cart passed through the barrier with ease. Either he had gotten a tremendous amount of strength out of his meagre meal last night or this really was the right passage to platform 9¾. He opened his eyes and the first thing that caught his attention was a giant red steam locomotive regurgitating large clouds of steam and preparing to depart. A plaque on the wall next to it informed him this was the right platform (as if any more hidden platforms were to be discovered between existing ones) and a sense of relief washed over him. Platform 93/4 was bustling with activity. Adult wizards and witches all wearing strange robes passed, discussing work or the latest news. Weaving through the adults were scores of young wizards and witches, running around greeting each other after a long summer, running after escaped pets or just standing rather unsure next to their parents as they greeted colleagues or old friends. Rick weaved his way through the crowd to the entrance of the train and tried to haul his heavy trunk all the way to an unoccupied compartment. He had barely boarded the train when he found his way blocked by a brown haired girl. She was a little smaller than he and she looked a bit annoyed.

"Have you seen a boy? He's about as tall as you, has reddish brown hair, blue eyes and he answers to the name Rigel."

"No sorry, I haven't seen him." Rick replied truthfully. The girl sighed and moved past him without another word. Rick continued on his way, dodging students running up and down the train. He finally found an empty compartment somewhere in the back of the train, managed to get his trunk in the luggage compartment and had just sat down when the conductor blew his whistle to signal the train's departure. Rick saw the last students hopping on the train, hanging out of the window to say goodbye to their families. He felt excited and couldn't wait for the train to leave now that he was on it. A few seconds later, he got his wish and the train pulled out of the station. Rick stared out of the window as they passed through greater London. He had never seen such a big city and he wondered if there were more magical passageways hidden in it. He could not wait to discover them all. Soon they were leaving the busy city behind and the scenery became rather monotonous. In the corridor, students of very different ages were passing by his compartment and Rick spent some time contemplating them. He had never known or seen so many kids that could do magic. Movement by the compartment door caught Rick's attention. Two nervous-looking girls, a redhead and a brunette, were standing at the compartment door, obviously discussing whether they should come in or not. They looked about his age and so were probably first years as well. He waited for them to make their decision whether or not to come in when the redhead turned and looked at him unsurely and Rick realized he had seen that girl before. It was the redheaded girl from the Leaky Cauldron and she seemed reluctant to enter the compartment. The choice was taken away from her when her friend opened the door.

"Hi there, can we sit here? Everywhere else seems to be full." The brunette asked. Rick nodded. "Great!" The two girls took the seats by the door and continued the animated conversation they'd apparently had before finding their seats.

"I just can't wait to see it, I mean, it's supposed to be beautiful, at least, that's what my sister says. Did you know that the staircases move?" The brunette asked her friend.

"Yeah, I read about it in _Hogwarts, A History_ and I couldn't believe it at first! I just can't wait to see it for myself!" The redhead replied, seeming to have already forgotten that Rick was there. "I hope the classes aren't going to be too difficult, though. I mean, I've read all my school books and some extra just in case but it must be easier for you, having magical parents and all."

"I wouldn't worry about it." The brunette assured her. "There are loads of muggleborns every year and they do just fine. Besides, I may know a few spells already but I'm just as close to casting them as you are, so really, you have nothing to worry about." Rick saw the redheaded girl was relieved to hear that and he couldn't deny that it made him feel more at ease as well. After that, the conversation turned to wizard bands and who was the best looking member of something called the _Weird Sisters_. Twice, the conversation was interrupted by a girl - obviously other first years - asking if she could join them after which the amount of girly giggles was doubled in the small compartment. Rick tried to tune them out as best as he could but it was useless. After an hour or so, Rick had had enough of the noise and the mindless chatter and saw his chance to escape when a woman with a cart came by, asking if they would like something. Rick didn't have any money to buy anything but he readily took the opportunity to step out of the compartment and leave the overly chatty girls. He went looking for another place to sit but quickly found out that the girls hadn't been lying, everywhere else was full. He passed compartment after compartment but nowhere seemed an suitable place for him to sit. The few places that were free were in compartments with older students who looked at him funny or shooed him away when he tried to enter so he roamed the corridor for a while until he heard someone call his name.

"Hey Rick!" Rick turned around and saw Robert Henderson, the boy from Diagon Alley. "Are you looking for a place to sit?" Rick nodded. "Come sit with us." Rick wondered who 'us' was but gratefully accepted the invitation. The compartment was already pretty full so Rick took the only free aisle seat with Robert sitting opposite him.

"Everyone, this is Rick O'Connell." Robert introduced him. "Rick, this is Andrew Platt." He indicated the brown haired boy with the long face sitting next to him and who nodded politely to Rick.

"By the window is Rigel Bailey." A boy with messy reddish brown hair and wearing finely tailored deep blue robes looked up - he had been staring out the window, almost bored - and greeted Rick with little interest.

"Across from him is Evan Murnaghan." A blond haired boy smiled in greeting and offered his hand.

"Nice to meet you." Rick shook his hand and nodded in acknowledgement.

"And these are Christopher and Peter Barlow. I don't know which is which, I always get them confused." Two identical boys grinned at him and offered their hands as well.

"I'm Peter." Said the one sitting farthest from him.

"And I'm Chris." Said the other one as he shook Rick's hand.

"Nice to meet you." Rick answered.

"O'Connell?" Platt asked. "I can't say I know the name. What does your father do?"

"Oh, Rick's parents are dead." Rick did not know why but it irked him that Henderson had answered the question, and so offhandly at that. He did not need everyone to know he was an orphan, he did not need their pity. There was an uncomfortable silence before Platt broke it.

"Sorry." He said flatly before quickly changing the subject. "We were just talking about classes. Evan thinks Transfiguration is going to be more difficult than Potions. What do you think?" Rick didn't have a clue and to be honest, he didn't really care.

"I don't know." He replied truthfully. The other boys however, eagerly renewed the discussion they had been having before he walked in and Rick was already regretting ever taking Robert's offer to sit with them. Ten minutes later the conversation somehow turned to their fathers and Rick felt even more out of place than he had already felt. He knew Robert's father worked for a travel agency but the other boys' fathers all seemed to occupy important ministerial functions and it kind of became a bragging contest about whose father had the most important job. All in all, Rick felt that his companions were rather stuck up and spoiled and the sooner he was able to get out of there, the better.

"Anyway, my dad wants me to do well so I've already read all of my books twice, just to be prepared." Platt finished. The other boys looked impressed but Rick decided he had had enough. He would rather spend the rest of the afternoon roaming the corridors than spending another minute in the presence of these boys.

"Really?" He said. "Only twice? I would read it again if I were you, you may have missed something." He said sarcastically. The compartment suddenly became very quiet.

"I'm sorry, what is your problem?" Platt asked.

"Nothing really, it's just, is this really all you can talk about? I mean, what do you guys do for fun?"

"Hogwarts is about learning to do magic, emphasis on _learning_ , not fun." Platt countered. "We will be preparing ourselves to be excellent wizards."

"Yes well, it will be a cold day in hell when I _learn_ magic from reading a book." Rick told him.

"With that attitude, I'm sure you'll make for a very poor wizard." Platt said haughtily.

"And _I'm_ sure that I'll make for a very boring wizard otherwise." Rick countered again. "Now, if you'll excuse me." He got up and stepped out onto the corridor. 'What a bunch of idiots', he thought but he hadn't taken more than a few steps when one of the idiots was calling his name. It was the auburn haired boy, Bailey, Rick thought he was called.

"That was pretty cool what you did back there." The boy said. "He needed that, badly." Rick did not really know how to reply. He wondered what the boy wanted from him.

"That's not a very nice thing to say about your friend." He remarked.

"Oh, he's not my friend, more like an acquaintance." The boy explained. "My father is good friends with his father."

"Maybe you'd better return then." Rick remarked bluntly. He was in no mood to play nice with a swot.

"Are you kidding? I was glad for the excuse to get out of there. They're boring, I'd much rather listen to what you have to say, see how many more people you can insult." The boy said with a grin and Rick found himself returning it. "I like your view that magic should be fun, though my dad would disagree." Rigel said. "He's as stuck up and strict as those boys back there. You know he had me study the whole summer?"

"So then you know some spells already?" Rick asked, his interest and regard for the boy growing.

"Well, yes, in theory that is. Dad never allowed me to actually practice them, Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and what not."

"Can you show me?" Rick asked, ignoring Rigel's reply, too eager to try out his new wand. Rigel seemed a little unsure.

"We're not supposed to do magic outside of Hogwarts..." He began solemnly but he could not stop the wicked grin from appearing on his face. "But since this is the Hogwarts Express, technically an extension of Hogwarts, we're not breaking any rules, are we?" Rick grinned, he was already beginning to like this boy.

"Let's try the leg-locker curse, it causes the victim's legs to literally get stuck together, completely hilarious! I remember when I first got it right and I cast it on my cousin and she had to hop around until she could find someone who could stop it." Rigel's face lit up at the memory.

"I thought you said your dad didn't allow you to practice magic?" Rick pointed out.

"No, he doesn't but that doesn't mean I listened." Rigel winked. "Now, the spell is 'Locomotor Mortis' and you have to wave your wand like this when you cast it." Rick got out his wand and repeated the movement Rigel showed.

"Locomotor..."

"Not on me!" Rigel yelled alarmed. "Come on." He beckoned Rick over and pointed down the corridor. A bit further, a group of girls were talking. Rigel motioned to them and nodded in encouragement. "Give it a try." Rick pointed his wand at one of them and said:

"Locomotor Mortis."

The spell hit one of the girls and she started to shriek as her legs immediately snapped together and she had to hop on both legs to keep her balance. The other girls panicked as well and general chaos ensued. Rigel immediately burst out laughing as Rick stared at the girl with open mouth. Was that his doing? The girl tried to balance against her friends trying to separate her legs but only managed to fall over. It was mightily funny and Rick could not help but laugh. One of the girl's companions, the redheaded girl from earlier, turned around at the sound and saw them. Her gaze travelled to the wand in Rick's hands and her eyes narrowed as she scowled. Rigel noticed it too and he quickly grabbed Rick by the elbow and hastily went the other way, still chuckling.

"That was hilarious!" He said between laughs. "You're good! I didn't expect you to be able to get it right the first time. Did you cast that spell before?"

"No." Rick replied, equally amazed. Using magic was amazing, every fibre of his being buzzing. He couldn't wait to do it again.

"Brilliant." Rigel said.

"So is that one of the spells your father taught you?" Rick asked curious.

"Merlin, no!" Rigel replied. "He's way to strict for that. No, my uncle Demetrius taught me that one."

"Is everyone in your family magical?"

"Yeah, and they all went to Hogwarts too."

"So that makes you a pureblood?" Rick thought about what Robert had said about Mordaunt and purebloods and wondered if this boy would be the same.

"Yeah, I am. What about you?" Rigel asked.

"Muggleborn." Rick replied.

"Well, I wouldn't have guessed." Rigel said. "I mean, you nailed that spell." He sounded impressed but Rick couldn't help but feeling a bit insulted.

"And a muggleborn can't cast a spell?" He demanded.

"No, of course he can but... if that was the first time you cast that spell, then you're pretty good. I mean, it took me a couple of tries before I got it right."

"Oh," was all Rick could say and a look of understanding dawned on Rigel's face.

"You thought because I'm a pureblood I would look down on muggleborns?" He interpreted Rick's reaction.

"Well, yeah." Rick admitted.

"Who told you that?" Rick explained how he had met Robert and how the boy had told him about Mordaunt and his idea of pureblood supremacy.

"Not every pureblood family is like the Mordaunts." Rigel explained. "I have nothing against muggles and muggleborns." Rick nodded, feeling a bit stupid to think that but before things got awkward, Rigel changed the subject.

"So, if you could choose, which house would you be in?" He asked. Rick hadn't given it much thought, he had been too excited to even learn of Hogwarts' existence.

"I don't know, anywhere except Slytherin, I guess. You?" Rick replied.

"Well, my whole family has been in Ravenclaw… so I thought I'd try for something else."

"You don't want to be sorted into the same house as your family?" Rick asked non-plussed.

"No, I'm not like them. All they care about is good grades and a good career, I want to have more fun in my life so anything but Ravenclaw is fine with me." They talked about the different houses for a while walking through the corridor, looking for empty seats until the door of a compartment was yanked open and a boy was shoved out right in front of them. He was small and scrawny and already wore his raggedly patched up Hogwarts robes, accessorized with a pair of glasses balancing on his nose. Overall, he looked a bit nerdy.

"Hey, watch it!" Rigel exclaimed as the boy nearly fell over him.

"S..s..sorry." The boy stammered. The encounter was interrupted by a large boy stepping out into the corridor from the compartment the nerdy boy had come from. He was massive, almost twice as large and five times as wide as the boy with the glasses, with arms the size of tree trunks and a fat face with an uncommonly large nose and little beady eyes.

"Problems?" He spoke slowly and in a deep voice, giving the impression that he was a bit retarded.

"Trevill." Rigel acknowledged the large boy. "I assume that means Zayne is not far off either?" He had scarcely said so or another boy, more slim and muscular this time, stepped from behind Trevill. He did not speak but simply crossed his arms and looked menacingly.

"What's the hold up?" A cold female voice asked from inside the compartment and Zayne and Trevill parted to reveal its owner. She was a year or two older than them by the looks of her and had long raven black hair and cold black eyes that seemed to be able to kill on sight. Everything about her told Rick he was wise not to mess with her.

"Atia Rydell." Rigel acknowledged her. "No wonder you were in a hurry to leave, mate." He addressed the nerdy boy.

"Who are you?" Rydell demanded.

"Bailey, Rigel Bailey."

"Ah, so you're the runt of Bailey's." She said with an evil smile.

"I see you still keep the trolls around." Rigel countered with a nod to Trevill and Zayne. Rydell was not amused.

"Goodbye, Bailey." She simply said and retreated to the compartment with her cronies.

"Well, she's lovely." Rick declared sarcastically.

"Atia Rydell. She's a piece of work, a bit nutters too." Rigel explained. "What were you doing in her compartment anyway?" He asked the bespectacled boy.

"I was just reading my book." The boy replied. "She came in and told me to get out, that that was her compartment. I didn't know we had assigned seats?" He said apologetically.

"We don't, she just saw an opportunity to get a compartment to herself and her friends." Rigel explained. "Don't let her bully you like that again." He advised and the bespectacled boy nodded weakly, obviously clueless how to go about achieving that.

"Come on, let's look further down the train for a compartment." Rick addressed Rigel, eager to leave the nerdy boy behind and hear more about the wizarding world from Rigel. They walked on but it didn't take Rick long to notice they'd picked up a stray. The nerdy boy was following them.

"I'm sorry. Can we help you?" He turned around to address him.

"I'm Cedric, Cedric Carmichael." The boy greeted them awkwardly and held out his hand in greeting. Rigel accepted it first.

"Hello Cedric." He said. "I'm Rigel and this is Rick." Rick too accepted Cedric's hand now, albeit reluctantly. He did not know what to make of Cedric but he wasn't impressed by him so far.

"Well Cedric, I guess we'll see you around then." He said, hoping the boy would take the hint and go. Unfortunately, he did not.

"I was just wondering... well, if you're looking for a seat... I mean, I don't have anywhere to sit either, not anymore anyway, so... maybe we can look together?" And before Rick could advise against it, Rigel assented.

"Sounds like a good idea."

"Are you first years as well?" Cedric asked and the two boys nodded. "I can't wait to see Hogwarts. Do you think the classes will be hard? I hope I have prepared myself enough. I read every one of my books at least twice. I hope that was enough." He chatted along as they searched for a compartment. Rick rolled his eyes. What was it with these people?

"I would have read it at least three times, but that's just me." He bit back, if only to shut the nerd up. Cedric turned to him, slightly alarmed.

"Really?!"

"No." Rick answered dryly. Rigel snorted.

"Oh." Cedric uttered, clearly put off. He didn't say anything more as he followed them until he suddenly cried out. "What about here?" He pointed to a compartment that Rigel and Rick had missed. They turned around to take a look. Only one person was sitting there, a girl, and she was immersed in a book.

"No, not here." Rigel said quickly.

"Why not? There's plenty of room." Cedric asked.

"Trust me, you'll regret it." Their arguing must have attracted the girl's attention for she lifted her eyes from her book and sprang to her feet in an instant. Rick recognised her as the girl he had seen earlier when he first boarded the train, the one who was looking for someone.

"Let's go." Rigel said almost panicky and he quickly turned around to walk away. He did not get very far as the girl opened the door of her compartment and called out to him.

"Rigel, there you are! I've been looking for you all over the train!" She called out and Rick saw Rigel visibly cringe. "I thought you said we'd sit together on the train and then you just disappeared from the platform. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you've been hiding from me." Judging by the look on Rigel's face, Rick suspected that was exactly what he had done.

"Come on, I saved you a seat!" The girl said. "You're welcome to join as well, of course." She addressed Cedric and Rick. "Any friend of Rigel's is a friend of mine." Rick glanced at Rigel and saw that he was not at all happy with the offer.

"Rigel, aren't you going to introduce us?" The girl admonished and Rigel sighed.

"Guys, this is my cousin Regina. Regina, these are Rick and Cedric."

"How very nice to meet you." Regina said as she shook their hands. "Come on in." It took some persuading but Rigel eventually consented to sitting with Regina, only because there did not seem to be another choice.

"I was just brushing up on my magical herbs and fungi." Regina chatted, showing them the book she was reading. Rick recognized it as one of the books on their booklist. "Did you know that Devil's Snare..."

"No one wants to hear about that, Regina." Rigel interrupted her. "I think Rick and Cedric would much rather talk about Quidditch."

"About what?" Rick couldn't help but ask.

"Quidditch." Rigel repeated. "Don't tell me you've never heard of Quidditch?" He asked when he saw the confused look on Rick's face. "I fear I will have to tell you all about it." He said, looking rather pleased. "Sorry Regina, looks like your fungi will have to wait." Rigel apologised, not looking sorry at all and he proceeded to explain the game of quidditch in minute detail, preventing a rather peeved Regina from talking about her book. Cedric chipped in with a detail every now and then and recounted the rather lengthy history of a ball called a quaffle, at which time Rigel thankfully stepped in again to tell them all about the different teams and his favourite players. He was just giving a detailed description of a game he once saw with his uncle when the compartment door slid open and the old woman with the trolley appeared again.

"Anything off the trolley dears?" She said with shrill voice.

"Excellent!" Rigel said and he jumped up, already forgetting all about the game he'd been reciting. "A box of Every Flavour Beans, some Pumpkin Pasties and a bag of Chocolate Frogs please." He ordered. Rick could only wonder what all of that was and watched as Rigel returned with his arms full of confectionaries and dumped them on the empty seat next to him.

"Anyone else?" The kind lady asked the other three occupants. Rick was starving but he didn't dare steal again as the last time he tried to fool a wizard, it did not end very well. Hogwarts surely was not that far away anymore and he could eat there. Cedric passed as well and the lady with the trolley moved on.

"You're going to ruin your appetite." Regina piped up as she saw Rigel wolfing down his treats.

"What do you care?" Rigel bit back and Regina shrugged before she returned to her book. "This is great!" Rigel exclaimed as he grabbed one of his chocolate frogs, opened it and stuffed an actual living, jumping chocolate frog in his mouth before checking out the box it came in.

"Bummer! I've got this one already." Rick was still trying to comprehend what he'd just seen and didn't have a clue what Rigel was talking about. "Every chocolate frog had a card of a famous witch or wizard in it that you can collect." Rigel explained. "I've got loads already, my collection is nearly complete." He showed them the card and Rick saw it contained a picture of Merlin. He was just reading about the wizard's accomplishments on the back of the card when Cedric struck up a conversation with Rigel's cousin.

"So, what do you think about Spore's view on the benefits of Moly?" He asked Regina, who seemed all too happy to talk about something else than quidditch and chocolate frog cards.

"It's brilliant, she's amazing, she just really knows what she's talking about. I've read her book like five times already - of course, I jotted down some of my own thoughts and remarks in it - I swear I know it inside and out. Go ahead, ask me anything." Cedric seemed a little taken aback at Regina's enthusiastic response but complied with her wish anyway.

"Oh! Uhm.. do you know a different name for Monkshood?" Cedric started off. Rick did not have a clue what he was talking about but apparently, Regina did.

"That's easy. Aconite!" She answered proudly. "Ask me another one!"

"What helps against most poisons?" Cedric obliged. Rick was about to suggest 'not taking them' but he was pretty sure that was not the answer Cedric or Regina was looking for.

"A Bezoar. You can find it in a goat's liver." She answered proudly.

"Actually it's his stomach." Cedric corrected.

"What?" Regina was taken aback.

"A Bezoar. It's found in a goat's stomach, not his liver." Cedric explained.

"No, I'm pretty sure it's the liver." Regina argued feebly, leafing through her book to find proof. Cedric didn't say anything and waited for her to find the passage. When she did, her face flushed bright red.

"Well, I know that, I was just momentarily confused." She tried to cover up her mistake. The boys looked at her disbelievingly, making Regina look extremely uncomfortable. "Well, I have to go." She said. "I'll see you all later." She abruptly rose and left the compartment. Rick and Cedric stared at her retreating form.

"Well, she's a poor loser." Rick stated and Rigel started to laugh. It took several minutes for him to calm down and Cedric and Rick stared at him inquisitively, wondering what he found so funny.

"That was priceless!" Rigel exclaimed. Cedric smiled sheepishly. "You don't know how long I have waited to see her be proven wrong." Rigel continued to laugh so much that it became infectious and a smile formed on Rick's face. He could see the humour in that. Only Cedric didn't think it was so funny and suggested they should go after Regina, which Rigel immediately waived away.

"It'll do her good." He said. Rigel and Rick did not let Regina's departure bother them and made full use of their new compartment as Rigel introduced Rick to the game of Exploding Snap, a card game where the cards tended to explode at unexpected moments. Rick and Rigel amused themselves with the game (Cedric said he was content to watch) until it began to get darker and the lights in the compartment came on. A woman's voice announced that they were approaching Hogwarts and Rick was very glad to hear it because his stomach was starting to ache from hunger. Rick and Rigel quickly changed into their Hogwarts robes and Rick was a little embarrassed to see how his second-hand robes looked really poor against Rigel's custom made and brand new ones. But at least his were in better shape than Cedric's, whose robes were obviously second-hand as well and in a worse state that Rick's, with patches and frayed ends here and there and a little long, causing Cedric to trip over them practically every other step. Before long, the train began to slow as they rolled into a station and Rick began to get a little restless in nervous excitement. In a few moments he would be at Hogwarts.

57


	5. The Sorting Hat

THE SORTING HAT

Chapter Five

The Sorting Hat

"First years! First years this way!" A raspy voice echoed across the platform as they exited the train and Rigel, Cedric and Rick made their way to the person to whom it belonged. They were met by a grumpy looking middle aged man holding a lantern. The first things Rick noticed about him was his dishevelled greasy brown hair and his small nose that stood in stark contrast to his rather stout build. The man didn't seem to notice them and looked almost bored as he continued to holler his message over their heads. When all of the first years had gathered, Grille, as the man had introduced himself, led them to a small dock where a dozen or so little boats lay, emitting a wheezing sound with every step he took.

"Come on, move along," Grille urged them. "Get into the boats, no more than four per boat." Rick was a little annoyed Cedric accompanied Rigel and him in a boat, he didn't much like the nerdy boy and couldn't wait to get rid of him. The fourth seat in the boat was taken up by another boy with light brown hair and as soon as everyone was settled, the boats set off of their own accord and softly glided over the water. More than a few 'ooh's' and 'aah's' were uttered as the first few boats went around a bend. Rick immediately understood why when their boat followed and he saw Hogwarts for the first time. Before him, a magnificent castle sat high up on a rock overlooking the lake, its many towers and turrets accentuated by the moonlight. It was huge and Rick felt a thrill of anticipation run through him. He had never seen anything like it before.

"It's beautiful." He heard Cedric murmur in awe beside him.

"Yeah." Rick could not help but agree. The boats glided across the smooth and calm dark lake towards the castle until they passed through a curtain of ivy that gave way to a cave with an underground dock. The boats landed on a beach of pebbles and the first years clambered out of the boats, skidding over the slippery rocks. Mr. Grille lighted the way with his lamp and led them up a staircase in the rock. They climbed and climbed, at least a hundred stairs until the rock gave way to grass and they found themselves on the smooth lawn in front of the castle. Up close, it looked even bigger and Rick couldn't quite tell if it was his imagination but he felt a buzz run through his entire body, as if the magic inside him recognized the magic of the castle. There wasn't much time to contemplate this, however, because Grille didn't stop and proceeded to lead them up the front steps to a pair of huge oak doors. The first years gathered on the top step as Grille banged his fist on the door. It immediately opened to reveal a tall, old but lean man in long midnight blue robes. His long white hair hung loosely over his shoulders and a matching beard ended halfway down his chest. His face was full of lines, especially around his dull blue eyes, and looked almost leathery. Rick thought he must be over a hundred years old.

"Thank you Mr. Grille, I'll take it from here." The man addressed Grille with a deep voice. Grille grunted and disappeared. "I am professor Lloyd, the deputy headmaster." The old man introduced himself. "Follow me please." He showed them in and led them into a large entrance hall. A lot of noise came from a door to their right and Rick realized the older students were already in the castle. Lloyd, however, guided them through a door on the left that led to a smaller chamber.

"Welcome to Hogwarts." Professor Lloyd greeted them when they had all filed in. "In a few moments, you will enter the Great Hall where you will be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Your house will be like your family while you attend this school, you will take classes with your fellow house members, spend your free time in your house common room and sleep in your house dormitory. Any rule breaking will cost your house points while possible triumphs will earn you points. At the end of the year, the house who has the most points will win the house cup." The professor explained calmly. "You will wait here while I'll go see if everything is ready." He disappeared back into the entrance hall, leaving the new students by themselves. As soon as the door closed, the first years began to chatter.

"I heard we need to battle a troll to decide in which house we belong." A boy with short black hair and a round face said to his neighbour.

"I've heard we need to make a rabbit disappear." Another boy said.

"Do you know what this sorting ceremony is about?" Rick asked Rigel. His new friend looked a bit nervous, his face quite pale and he was unable to utter more than a quick "No." Rick tried not to let Rigel's nervousness infect him but he couldn't ignore the butterflies holding a party in his stomach.

"We are ready for you." Lloyd suddenly interrupted the chatter. "Please form a line." The first years got in line, Rigel behind Rick, who in turn was standing behind Cedric. The professor escorted them across the entrance hall and through the large oak doors into another larger Hall. Rick had never seen anything like it. It was so large the Clayton house would have fitted in it about ten times and it was illuminated by hundreds of floating candles, hovering over four long tables where the older students were already sitting, watching them - they must have gotten here some other way than by boat. At the end of the hall, one large table stood facing the other four where the staff was seated. To avoid all the stares and attention from the older students and teachers, Rick's glance turned to the ceiling only to find that there wasn't one. Instead of a stone ceiling, you could just stare at the open sky and Rick wondered what they did when it rained. Nevertheless, it was marvellous to behold and Rick momentarily forgot about his nervousness in all the excitement. The procession of first year students came to a halt in front of a little stool on which lay an old and worn hat. It was full of stitched up patches and smudges and it did not look like anyone was still wearing it, and really, who would want to? Rick wondered what they were going to do with it. The Great Hall fell silent and watched the hat in anticipation. A crack near the base of the hat opened and to Rick's amazement, along with that of his peers, the hat began to sing.

 _It is the start of a new year_

 _New students have come_

 _And I must place them in their house_

 _Like I have always done_

 _The task is not an easy one_

 _It requires skill and care_

 _To divide amongst the houses_

 _So each can get its equal share_

 _Those who will be Gryffindors,_

 _Are people who know no fright_

 _If you are brass and courageous,_

 _Then in Gryffindor you'll be alright._

 _Others will be Hufflepuffs,_

 _Who are loyal and just_

 _Who help those in need_

 _And in whom you can place trust_

 _Others still will be Ravenclaws,_

 _Known for their wisdom and wit_

 _They value learning and study_

 _Like wise Rowena did._

 _Finally, there will be Slytherins,_

 _Whose cunning above all else exceeds._

 _They are clever and furtive_

 _Just what a Slytherin needs._

 _So put me on your head_

 _I have never yet been wrong_

 _Let us begin the Sorting_

 _And I will tell you where you belong!_

Rick applauded with the rest of the students when the hat finished his song. Rick was relieved to hear all they had to do was put on a hat but he was still nervous about where he was going to end up. The hat had described the four houses much the same as Henderson had back in Diagon Alley but it did not help Rick much either. Intelligence? He was not stupid but he hated books and learning. Hard work? He avoided it as much as possible. Ambition? He barely knew what he wanted to do tomorrow, let alone years from now, plus, he abhorred the thought of sharing a house with people like Mordaunt and Rydell. That left bravery and that, he felt, did not apply to him either. There is no bravery to be found in hiding and looking on as your mother gets killed or in running away from a fight. The scar on his shoulder started to itch as his mind wandered back to that night but Rick refused to pay it any notice. Instead, he focussed his attention back on professor Lloyd.

"When I call your name, you will come forward, put the Sorting Hat on your head and wait to be sorted." The professor explained as he unfolded his scroll. Several of his peers looked quite nervous now. Rigel seemed to be lost in his own world, biting his lip in nervous anticipation and next to him Cedric looked as if he was ready to faint.

"Anderson, Colin!" Lloyd called and a boy with blond hair cautiously stepped forward and sat down on the stool as professor Lloyd placed the Sorting Hat on his head. It fell well over his ears and eyes and everyone waited for something to happen. Rick saw Anderson fidgeting on the stool and he began to get nervous now for another reason. He did not like the prospect of having to sit there in front of the entire school, waiting for a hat to make its decision. What if it decided he didn't belong anywhere, would they send him back to Coakley?

"GRYFFINDOR!" Cried the Sorting Hat suddenly. The table on the far left burst out in applause and Colin almost broke into a run to join them. Rick applauded with the rest of the Hall before the next student was called.

"Andrews, Edmund!" Andrews quickly became a Ravenclaw and the table second from the right broke out in applause and cheers.

"Asanty, Gerald" became the first Hufflepuff and the table next to the Gryffindor's broke out in cheers as Gerald joined them.

"Bailey, Rigel!" Rigel looked terrified for a moment but he got a grip on himself and strode towards the stool as confidently as he could manage looking pale and nervous as he did.

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat screamed only seconds later and Rick applauded with the other students as Rigel made his way to the Gryffindor table. After Rigel, the two brothers Rick had met on the train, Christopher and Peter Barlow, were sorted into Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw respectively and by the time Rowlett reached the C's, Rick saw Cedric was as white as a sheet.

"Caerns, Regina." Lloyd called and Rigel's cousin bumped into Rick on her way to the Sorting Hat. It sat but briefly on her head before it yelled "RAVENCLAW" and Regina hopped off the stool, practically skipping to the Ravenclaw table. Rick did not miss Rigel's look of relief that his cousin was in a different house than he was.

"Carmichael, Cedric!" Rick felt Cedric freeze next to him and had to give him a little shove to get him moving. The boy tripped over his own robes halfway to his destination and practically fell on the stool. A couple of students laughed and Rick could not keep a smile from forming on his face. The hat deliberated longer this time until at long last, it called out "GRYFFINDOR!" Rick couldn't hide his surprise at hearing the Hat's decision, he was sure the nerdy boy would end up in Ravenclaw and judging by Cedric's own reaction, he was baffled too. The newly sorted Gryffindor numbly walked over to the far left table and took a seat next to Rigel as Rick waited with the rest of the first years to be sorted.

"Henderson, Robert!" Robert nodded to Rick before he went up and took a seat on the stool. The hat only briefly touched his head before it screamed: "RAVENCLAW!" Henderson went to join the other Ravenclaws with a big smile on his face, happy he got the house he wanted. Rick turned to watch as the next few students got sorted. Natasha Henlock, the newly sorted Hufflepuff, was followed by "Lewis, Samantha!"

Rick saw the redheaded girl he'd seen in the Leaky Cauldron and who'd glared at him on the Hogwarts Express after he'd cursed her friend step forward looking terrified. Professor Lloyd placed the sorting hat on her head and moments later, she became the first Gryffindor girl. Lewis practically skipped to the Gryffindor table, saw Rigel and promptly sat down next to Colin Anderson, waiting for the others to be sorted.

After Lewis, it was the turn of a plump boy named Frank McCallum. After about half a minute, the hat decided McCallum was a Gryffindor and the boy was in such a hurry to reach the far left table, he stumbled over his own feet and planted his face on the floor. A lot of students laughed as a red faced McCallum took his seat next to Lewis. Rick hoped the hat would hurry up. He wanted his own sorting to be over. After McCallum, Paula McKenley became a Hufflepuff just before Lloyd called "Mordaunt, Livius!"

Rick stared as the boy with slick black hair confidently marched forward and professor Lloyd put the Hat on his head. It had barely touched the boy's head before it screamed "SLYTHERIN!".

Mordaunt smirked smugly and arrogantly strutted to the Slytherin table. He briefly looked back, his eyes meeting Rick's and Rick felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. He immediately understood why Mordaunt had been sorted into Slytherin, there was something positively evil about that boy. Finally, Lloyd reached the O's.

"O'Connell, Richard!" Rick swallowed. He felt quite nervous, he still didn't know which house he wanted to be in. He supposed it didn't much matter as long as he got a house and could stay to learn magic, though he had to admit that being in the same house as Rigel would not be the worst thing that could happen. He took his seat on the stool and caught a glimpse of Rigel giving him the thumbs up before the inside of the Hat was all he could see. Rick jumped in surprise as a voice suddenly whispered in his ear.

"Hmm, difficult. Not an easy task. I see courage in you boy, determination, quite some talent as well, my goodness yes." Rick grinned, he was quite flattered by what the hat was saying. "But there is another side as well, one that yearns for recognition, for greatness. You would do well in Slytherin..." Livius Mordaunt's face after he was sorted came back to Rick's mind and he knew he did not want to be in the same house as that boy.

"Not a fan of Slytherin?" It was like the Hat could read his thoughts. "You could be great in Slytherin, you know." It tried to persuade him.

"No." Rick thought, trying to convince it. "Not Slytherin, anything but Slytherin."

"Alright then," The hat said. "If you're determined, then it will be … GRYFFINDOR!" The last word was shouted aloud into the hall. Professor Lloyd plucked the Sorting Hat off his head and Rick smiled in relief as he made his way to his new housemates, happy that it was over. Rigel congratulated him as Rick sat down on the seat his new friend had saved for him. From here, Rick got a better view of the High Table and recongnized professor Harewell – back in her bright yellow robes – sitting next to an older man in a large golden chair, who Rick assumed was the headmaster Tiberius Aldebourne. He looked very different than what Rick had expected. He'd expected a tall, severe looking, old and humourless man, what he saw was a short, plump man with a round face and a small dutch beard. He looked very jovial and beamed at the students, applauding eagerly for every first year getting sorted. Rick and Rigel watched together until the last person was sorted (Zecker, Gregory – Slytherin). As soon as Lloyd had placed the stool aside, Aldebourne rose and immediately all chatter died away. The headmaster, beamed at the students, pleased to see them all.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. I have a few announcements to make but first let us enjoy this lovely feast." He clapped his hands and suddenly, the empty golden plates and goblets on the tables were somehow loaded with delicious food and drink. Every kind of food you could wish for was there: mashed potatoes, beef, drum-sticks, pies, ... Rick began to scoop up large amounts of everything and dug in. He had never had access to this much food the last couple of years and he proceeded to gorge himself. Even Rigel, who claimed the cooking was not as good as he got at home, was stuffing himself with everything in his reach, despite all the candy he ate on the train. Overall, the mood at the Gryffindor table was amicable as the first years enjoyed the food and happily engaged in conversation.

"I was bound to end up in Gryffindor." The blond haired boy Anderson, was saying as they ate. "My whole family's been in Gryffindor so it really wasn't a surprise." Rick didn't pay much attention to him, he thought Anderson sounded like a windbag and he was busy thinking how to go about getting some of this food up to their sleeping quarters in case he got hungry during the night.

"Hey, O'Connell." Rick turned his gaze from the food to the person addressing him - Sanders he thought his name was. "Do you collect Famous Wizard Cards? I'm a collector myself and I'm looking for someone willing to trade."

"No, sorry, I don't collect them." Rick replied rather disinterested.

"Too bad, they're good fun." Sanders turned his attention to Rigel instead. "Hey Bailey? Are you a collector?" Rick went back to his dinner as Rigel and Sanders engaged in a conversation about their card collection. After dessert, which was equally as delicious and plentiful, Rick jumped nearly a foot in the air when a silvery transparent thing came floating through the custard just as he was about to reach for it. As the thing rose higher, he saw it was in fact not a thing but a silvery transparent man wearing old robes with a high collar. It looked like a ghost.

"Hello, I am Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, resident Gryffindor ghost." The ghost said. "Welcome to Gryffindor! I hope you'll do well in our house." He finished with a grandiose bow which nauseatingly, made his head wobble on his neck, as if it was not completely attached.

"You're Nearly Headless Nick!" Anderson said. "My brother told me loads about you."

"Then I suppose your brother told you I prefer Sir Nicholas, if you don't mind." Slightly insulted, Sir Nicholas hovered away greeting the older Gryffindor students.

"I read about Sir Nicholas." Cedric piped up. "He died in a botched execution, they axe they tried to behead him with was blunt, you see so he died before his head was completely severed and even now as a ghost, it's still attached by an inch if skin." Rick pretended not to hear him and instead watched Nearly Headless Nick join up with the other ghosts to perform a kind of show above the house tables. The ghosts finished their show under loud applause and when everyone had had their last fill of dessert, the empty plates disappeared in the blink of an eye and the chatter died down as professor Lloyd tapped his glass to get their attention. Professor Aldebourne rose.

"I hope everyone has enjoyed the feast and I trust there are no hungry stomachs anymore." He began. "I hope everyone is ready for another year at Hogwarts, your professors and I certainly are. Now to get on with the usual announcements. First years, I'm obliged to inform you that the Dark Forest is forbidden territory, something I still need to remind some older students of every once in a while." His gaze glided over some guilty looking faces.

"Mrs. Whifferdill, the concierge has also asked me to remind you all that performing magic in the hallway and corridors is forbidden. Also, the list of forbidden items is revisable in her office. Quidditch tryouts take place next week, anyone in second year or up wishing to represent his or her house in the competition for the Quidditch Cup, can try out. Now, I'll leave you to it for tonight, off to bed and sleep tight." The students applauded once more before getting up and moving as one towards the oak doors.

"First year Gryffindors, follow me please." A voice called. Rick looked up to see an older student, wearing a badge with the letter P on it, gathering the first year Gryffindors. Rigel and Rick joined their housemates and from the back of the group they could just hear what the older boy was saying.

"My name is Ed Anderson and I'm your prefect this year. I'll be escorting you to our common room so keep up and don't fall behind."

"That's my brother." Colin boasted to Rick and Rigel as they made their way to the doors. The two friends didn't reply. The Gryffindors reached the doors at the same time as the Slytherin prefect and the first year Slytherin students. The two prefects coolly acknowledged each other and lead their respective parties through the doors and in opposite directions, Anderson up the stairs and the Slytherin prefect down a dark flight of stairs. Rick made to follow Rigel out to the entrance hall when he was hindered by someone bumping into him. It was the dark haired boy, Mordaunt.

"Watch where you're going, Flobberworm." He said, shoving Rick aside. Rick did not know what a 'Flobberworm' was but he doubted it was a compliment.

"I could say the same, dimwit." He retaliated. Mordaunt stopped and turned around, the look on his face a combination of surprise, anger and disgust.

"What did you just say?" His voice had a distinctly threatening edge to it.

"You heard me." Rick replied. "You should watch where you're going before you accuse others of being as clumsy as you are." He said, determined not to be intimidated by the growing group of Slytherins gathering behind Mordaunt throwing him dirty looks. Rick did not care, he was not afraid of them.

"Do you have any idea who you're talking to?!" Mordaunt hissed. Rick smirked.

"I'd say I'm talking to a bonehead in need of some glasses." He said unperturbed. The comment clearly hit home for Mordaunt because he reached into his pocket for his wand and pointed it at Rick's throat.

"Watch what you say, Flobberworm." The boy hissed. "Or you might be spending your first night here in the infirmary." The other Slytherin boys sniggered. Rick's eyes remained locked with Mordaunt's, refusing to show his unease. He had no doubt Mordaunt already knew some curses and probably some a little more severe than the innocent one Rigel had taught him. If it came to a fight, he was surely in trouble but he refused to back down.

"Is that supposed to be a threat?" Rick asked as calmly as he could manage. The tense moment was interrupted when Rigel arrived on the scene.

"Rick? What's keeping ..." He faltered when he saw Mordaunt pointing his wand at Rick. "Mordaunt."

"Bailey." Mordaunt acknowledged with disdain. "You might want to teach your friend here his place."

"Yes, remind me again what place that is?" Rigel asked with feigned sincerity. Rick smiled faintly, reassured to see Rigel was taking this so lightly. Mordaunt narrowed his eyes. More and more people were stopping to see what was going on, causing a hold up in the Entrance Hall. Soon someone in charge, a teacher possibly, would come and put a stop to it. Mordaunt seemed to realize this as well and slowly stowed his wand back into his pocket. He smiled evilly.

"You didn't need to look so scared, worm," he addressed Rick. "I wasn't going to curse you. That would be a waste of time and energy." He laughed. "I never saw a Gryffindor that scared." The other Slytherins roared with laughter. Rick felt himself grow hot with rage and embarrassment. Scared? He'd show him scared! He lunged for the Slytherin boy who stumbled backwards in complete surprise, catching Rick's first blow to his jaw before his cronies could step in to try to drag his attacker away.

"Get him, Rick!" Rigel was urging him on. Several other students were cheering and yelling but Rick only got a few blows in when someone dragged him off Mordaunt and restrained him.

"Let go of me!" He tried to shrug the person off but the other person's grip was too firm.

"What is going on here?" A stern voice interrupted the fight. The voice belonged a tall woman, one of the teachers Rick had spotted earlier at dinner. She has a general look of severity about her, from her straight, tightfitting robes, to her long straight nose and her raven black hair neatly tied in a knot at the back of her neck. She looked very aloof and grave and Rick got the distinct impression that she was not to be messed with. Her sudden appearance calmed him down enough to take in the situation. To his delight, Mordaunt was still lying on the ground with a bloody nose, his cronies around him trying to help him up. The Slytherins all rushed to explain what had happened.

"He attacked Mordaunt, professor..."

"... without any reason..."

"You provoked him!" Rigel countered.

"He's crazy..." The professor held her hand up and instantly, everyone shut up. She turned her gaze on Rick who was still being restrained by his captor.

"Mr. Moran?" Rick was about to say his name wasn't Moran when the boy restraining him answered.

"I arrived too late to see how the fight began, professor." The boy replied. The professor looked sternly at Rick.

"Fighting is prohibited at Hogwarts no matter the reason, Mr. ...?"

"O'Connell." Rick provided.

"Mr. O'Connell." She repeated. "Five points will be taken from Gryffindor this time. If I catch you fighting again, I assure you that the punishment will be more severe. Now, I suggest you all get to your dormitories. Mr. Mordaunt, you should go to the infirmary to get that looked at." She said coldly, motioning to the boy's already swollen eye. With a glare at Rick, Mordaunt turned around and walked away. The crowd dispersed and Rick felt the arms holding him loosening their grip and he shrugged them off.

"Easy now, no need to get angry again." Said Moran. Rick turned around to see he was taller than him, a second or third year Gryffindor if he had to guess with light brown curly hair and bright blue eyes.

"Why'd you do that?" Rick addressed him accusingly. "I had everything under control."

"Well excuse me for trying to help you." The boy said.

"How was that helping me?" Rick accused.

"Your little stunt just now cost Gryffindor five points." Moran said. "If I hadn't stopped you, it could have been double that plus detention for you. Think about that next time you feel the urge to punch someone you don't like in front of a professor." Moran scolded him.

"He called me a coward." Rick defended himself. The older boy wasn't impressed.

"It's just words, don't let him get to you." He replied calmly.

"He didn't get to me!" Rick replied indignantly. Moran huffed.

"You could've fooled me." He said as he and his friend walked away towards the stairs. Rick glared at his retreating back.

"That must be some kind of record." Rigel spoke up as he came to stand next to Rick. "Five points deducted on your first night at Hogwarts." Rick didn't answer, he didn't much care for five points, he was more upset about the fact Mordaunt got away unpunished. Rigel, however, misinterpreted Rick's silence.

"Don't feel too bad, it's only five points and Mordaunt had it coming. He's used to walking all over people. Now he'll think twice before doing it again."

"You know him?" Rick asked.

"Not personally no, but I've heard of him. He's Atia Rydell's cousin, you know, the girl who threw Cedric out of his compartment? That should tell you enough." Rigel explained. "Come on, we need to catch up with the others or we'll never find the dormitory." Rick nodded and followed Rigel up the stairs.

"You know, I think it's going to be an interesting year." Rigel said as they jogged to catch up with the others.

"How's that?" Rick asked.

"With you around, how can it not be?" Rigel smiled and Rick could not help but return it. "Come on, let's go find the others." Said Rigel and they sprinted up the stairs to catch up with the other Gryffindors. They found them on the second floor, getting an explanation about Gryffindor house from the Prefect. Rigel and Rick joined them discretely, earning them a suspicious look from Lewis, the redheaded girl, who obviously wondered where they'd been but they wisely decided to ignore her. Anderson led them through different corridors and across several flights of stairs, even through a passageway that was hidden behind a tapestry and Rick jumped when the staircase he was ascending suddenly moved in a different direction. Astonished, he grabbed the rail to steady himself.

"They tend to do that." Rigel explained as he too held on tightly. After that, they went through another corridor, took another right and then another and just when Rick thought they'd never get there, they ended up in front of a portrait of a fat lady dressed in a pink dress.

"Password?" She asked in a solemn voice.

"Fortitudo leonis." The prefect answered and the portrait flew aside to reveal a passage. One by one, they passed through the portrait-hole into a large warm room dressed in red and gold, the colours of Gryffindor. It looked warm and cosy with a banner with a lion hanging from the far wall, chairs and little round tables for working strewn everywhere and comfortable looking sofa's in front of the large fireplace. The Prefect led them across the room and explained to them the layout and rules of the house.

"Dormitories are up the stairs. Boys to the left, girls to the right. All your belongings have already been brought up." Ed Anderson explained but Rick was too distracted to pay much attention. He tried to take in every single feature of the room, from the notice board to the small statue of a lion's head on the mantle. It already felt more like a home than his own rundown bedroom in Coakley. The sleepy first years quickly went up the stairs to their beds. The boys' dormitory was in one of the towers judging by the contours of the room, though Rick could not tell which. He had a vague idea to maybe ask someone but saw that his fellow classmates had already closed the curtains around their beds and he decided he was not that eager to know. He quickly changed into his pyjamas and closed the drapes around his bed but sleep did not come that easy. His knuckles hurt from hitting Mordaunt and just the thought of that boy made his blood boil again. He would find a way to get back at him for insulting him. Eventually, after thinking of scheme after scheme and long after the others had fallen asleep, Rick succumbed to sleep as well.

73


	6. The Gryffindor Challenge

THE GRYFFINDOR CHALLENGE

Chapter SIX

The Gryffindor Challenge

It didn't take long for Rick to realise that magic was more than just spells and wandwork. First, they had to locate all the correct classrooms in such a big castle, which wasn't easy. The corridors all looked the same in the first years' eyes, the staircases tended to move just as you were already late for class and Peeves the Poltergeist always did his best to make students late for class with his antics. When they'd finally managed to find the correct classroom, the first years spent a lot of time doing no real magic at all. This became abundantly clear from day one as the Gryffindor's first ever class at Hogwarts was Magical Theory. The class was taught by professor Tuft, an older wizard with a very monotonous voice who droned on about all kinds of magical principles in long, tedious lectures. It was all very boring and made Rick wish he'd never gotten out of bed that morning. It felt like hours before the bell rung and they could get to lunch. This wasn't what he'd had in mind when he'd heard the words 'School of Magic'.

"What do we have this afternoon?" Rick asked Rigel as he scooped up generous amounts on his plate for lunch. He hoped it would be a little more exciting than the theoretical mumbo jumbo they'd had to endure or he couldn't promise he'd be awake by the end of the class.

"Charms." Rigel said, consulting his schedule. "Should be all right, Griffiths's teaching." Griffiths was the head of Gryffindor house but Rick had yet to meet the guy.

"Why do you say that?" He asked.

"My brother doesn't like him. He says Griffiths is irresponsible and lax in his teaching duties and never gives sufficient amounts of homework. Any teacher that makes my brother complain like that is a fun teacher in my book."

"Sounds like an ok guy. Now if he'd let us do some actual magic, I could really start liking him." Said Rick.

"Come on, we'd better get going if we want to get there on time. It should be somewhere on the third floor." Rigel said, snatching a muffin from the bowl on the table. "These are really good."

They had been right to leave on time because by the time they finally located the correct classroom, they were only just in time for class to begin. In appearance alone, Griffiths was not your stereotypical teacher. While most of their professors were dressed in fine robes, Griffiths looked like a bum. His long light brown hair was tied messily in a ponytail and he looked like he hadn't shaved in a couple of days. His robes too, had dirt marks on them and more than one patch and that wasn't the only difference. As soon as class started, Rick noticed that Griffiths's teaching methods were quite different than professor Tuft's as well. While professor Tuft was very boring and uninteresting, Griffiths was more fun and laid back. He impressed his students by letting their books and quills race around the classroom under loud cheering. Rick was very eager to start learning how to do that and judging from the excited babble of the other students, they were too. However, they were disappointed to learn they were to spend the rest of the class going over the theory of the fire-making spell and at the end of the class, all they were allowed to do was to practise the wand movement. All in all, Rick thought as he lay in bed that night, his first day at Hogwarts didn't go at all as he thought it would have and there was no sign of improvement as the second day did not go much better. They started with a Defence Against the Dark Arts class. Rick had hoped this class would at least bring some action but his hopes were dashed as soon as he saw professor Lloyd taught the class. The professor started the class off with a lecture on the dangers of misuse of magic and the precautions you had to take when dealing with dark creatures and spells. He asked a few questions about the classification of dark magic, the answers to which Rick could only guess at, not having had time or interest to read all his books. Luckily though, Cedric, the nerdy boy from the train and the redheaded girl Lewis were seemingly holding a competition on who could answer the questions the fastest so Rick was never called upon to answer.

After the break, the Gryffindors made their way to the greenhouse for their first ever class of Herbology. Professor Harewell looked a little different from last night, she wore more tattered robes now, with patches on them here and there and a leather apron. The look was topped off with an old yellow pointed hat that had seen better days as well but the different dress did nothing to rid her of that look of youthful innocence and naiveté about her. She started her class by reading aloud the names to see who was who. When she got to Rigel she paused.

"Are you related to Orion Bailey?" When Rigel rather reluctantly replied that that was his brother, she said, "I had him in my class just last year. A brilliant student, Head Boy as well. It is a delight to have his brother in my class now." Rigel did not appear to be delighted at all with her praising his brother and luckily for him, she dropped the matter and continued her list. She smiled kindly at Rick in greeting when she read his name but he pretended not to notice. After the last person's name was called, Harewell started her lecture on Moly, a black-stemmed plant with white flowers that protects against dark magic and Rick was appalled when they were each given a plant and were tasked to collect the flowers. If he had wanted to collect flowers, he could have stayed home and plucked them from the overgrown garden at the Clayton house. How was this magic? When would they learn to use their wand and try their hand at some spells? This was just a boring pastime.

"Gently, O'Connell." Harewell kindly reminded him when she saw him yanking the flowers from his moly plant. Rick ignored her. At the end of class, the Gryffindors marched back to the castle, tired and dirty.

"Merlin, am I glad of a reprieve." Rigel said as soon as he sank down at the lunch table. "I did not know classes would be this boring. At this rate, I'll learn more at home than here." Rick snorted.

"Tell me about it, they seem to be determined to keep us from using a wand and bore us to death with their theories and silly diagrams and gardening."

"My brother always made it sound great." Rigel continued. "I should have known better than to believe him. He's almost as boring as the classes himself. He probably thought Magical Theory was as exciting as a game of quidditch."

"What do we have this afternoon?" Rick asked.

"Uhm… " Rigel uttered as he tried to remember their schedule.

"Potions." Cedric piped up next to them. "Should be fun, don't you think?" Rick and Rigel stared at him dumb-folded. They hadn't talked to Cedric since their first night here and Rick would have liked to keep it that way. The little know-it-all irked him.

"Potions, eh? My sympathies." Ed Anderson, Colin's brother and Prefect, said sounding a little irritated as he plopped down across from them and began to scoop food on his plate.

"What do you mean?" Rick asked, ignoring Cedric.

"Good luck pleasing professor Selwyn." Anderson said. "I don't even know why Aldebourne keeps him around."

"My brother never said anything." Rigel said.

"Well Orion Bailey would never complain about any professor now, would he?" Anderson replied, a little annoyed.

"You're right, he thinks they're all geniuses." Rigel rolled his eyes for emphasis.

"But professor Selwyn is a genius." Cedric piped up again. "He is quite famous for his potion brewing talents. He wrote a few books too and they were all described as brilliant, our potions handbook was written by him." Anderson rolled his eyes and huffed.

"He is a brilliant academic but he can't teach. He hasn't got the patience to deal with students who are not as gifted as he is and who know nothing about the best way to make a Draught of Peace." Colin's brother finished angrily, emphasizing each word with a vicious stab at his sausages. Rick and Rigel shared a look.

"Thanks for the heads up." Rick said and he and Rigel made themselves scarce, heading up to the common room to collect their books and cauldrons, leaving Anderson and Cedric behind.

Potions class took place in the dungeons. Rick and Rigel set up their stuff near the back row and waited for professor Selwyn to arrive. Rick saw Mordaunt and his friends walk in, laughing about something and Rick realized they had the class with the Slytherins, a fact that didn't improve his mood. Rick was not pleased to see that the Slytherin had fully recovered from their fight. He did not even sport a black eye anymore. Mordaunt's gaze found his and Rick got at least some satisfaction from the glare Mordaunt sent his way. There was no time for another altercation, however, as professor Selwyn walked in at that moment. Mordaunt took a seat near the front of the class and was perfectly unaware of Rick shooting daggers at him. Just as the bell rung, Rick saw Cedric walking in, carrying his books and cauldron in his arms, dragging his torn bag behind him. He spotted them and took a seat at the table next to theirs.

"My bag tore." He offered as Rick and Rigel stared at him. Rick thought he looked rather shaken and over Cedric's shoulder, he saw Mordaunt sniggering at them. Somehow, he got the impression Cedric's bag didn't tear of its own accord but he didn't say anything. Cedric was a Gryffindor, he should stand up for himself.

Professor Selwyn was a frightening appearance. He had long black hair, a somewhat tanned complexion, thick black eyebrows and under them black eyes set deep inside their sockets, making it seem like he was permanently glaring at you. He faced the students and gave them a long look, sending chills down everyone's spine and when he spoke, his voice sounded hoarse and sibilant, reminding Rick of the hissing of a snake.

"I am professor Selwyn and I'll be your potions master this year." He began his speech. No one dared make a sound and a shiver ran up Rick's spine at the sound of that voice.

"In this class I will teach you the basics of the subtle art that is potion making, or at least try." He said maliciously. "Many of you will not be able to appreciate what I will try to teach you. Nevertheless, I will expect the utmost concentration and dedication to this class." Selwyn looked the students in the eye one by one, almost daring them try and do otherwise.

"I do not tolerate any disobedience or talking out of order. I do not accept failure. Unfortunately for me most of you, if not all, will prove to be complete idiots and, as such, I do expect many of you will fail." Selwyn had a way of crawling under your skin and many of the students looked at each other with frightful looks. The professor did not bother to read the list of names of all the students, like Harewell and Lloyd had done. Instead, he went right down to business and read aloud the introduction of his own book _The Art of Potion Making_. After that, they were put to work trying, in pairs, to make a potion to heal sores. Rick was paired with Rigel while next to them, Cedric was working with Frank McCallum. The dungeon was eerily quiet and the only sounds heard were the soft bubbling of their potions and the occasional splash of ingredients being tossed in the cauldrons. None of them dared speak and when they had to communicate, they did it through whispers or signals. While they worked, Selwyn was sitting at his desk, writing on a bit of parchment. He did not really seem to care how they were getting along. Only when the class was almost over, did he get up and made his way through the rows of students, checking their potions. He said nothing other than "bad", "worse", "abysmal" and Rick disliked him even more when he looked at their potion and said "wouldn't want to test that for a thousand galleons". When he got to Cedric and Frank's cauldron, however, he completely lost it.

"What in Merlin's name is this supposed to be?" He demanded. Frank made a little noise in fright.

"A...a... Boil Cure potion, sir." Cedric stammered. The whole class was watching the scene unfold. The look on professor Selwyn's face was murderous.

"You call that a Boil Cure potion?" He sneered. "That is the most pathetic and terrible attempt at a potion I have ever seen." Rick saw Cedric's eyes filling with tears and Frank was so terrified he looked like he was about to wet himself. Rick felt a wave of anger directed at Selwyn wash over him. What kind of teacher was this?

"How stupid are you?" Selwyn continued. "Can you not read? Did it not say that you only needed four measures of crushed snake fangs? Did it not say that you needed four horned slugs? Is your brain that small that you cannot understand what 'stir five times' means?"

"Well, if you'd been a proper teacher and helped us, we might have actually learned something." Rick blurted out the words before he realised what he was doing. Selwyn whipped his head around to see who had spoken but Rick was too riled up to feel sorry about his outburst and defiantly met Selwyn's glare.

"What did you say?" The professor threatened. Rick went on recklessly.

"It's our first time." He said. "You can't expect us to get everything right the first time when you don't even give us proper instructions." Rick stared right back into those cold eyes, determined to not look away. The dungeon was so quiet you could hear a needle drop.

"What is your name?" Selwyn asked, composing himself again.

"O'Connell." Rick replied defiantly.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for your impudence, Mr. O'Connell." Selwyn turned around and went back to his inspection round. Rick opened his mouth to protest but a shove prevented him from replying. Angry and rubbing his sore shoulder, he looked around him for the source and found the red haired girl – Samantha Lewis – glaring at him.

"Shut up!" She mouthed angrily and Rick stubbornly turned his back to her. Where did she get off telling him what to do?

A few minutes late, the class ended and Rick was glad he could get out of there. Still angry, he stuffed his things in his bag and turned around to leave when Selwyn spoke up.

"O'Connell!" With a deep breath to calm himself, Rick turned around and walked back to Selwyn's desk. "You'll be at this door at five this evening for your detention." Fuming, Rick turned around and left the dungeon without acknowledging the professor's instructions. Rigel was waiting for him in the corridor.

"What a miserable, cowardly, unfit –" Rigel began.

"Git." Rick provided.

"Exactly." Rigel agreed. "And that's supposed to be a teacher! What complete lunatic decided Selwyn would be a good teacher?!"

"I have no idea but in the meantime, we lost ten points for no good reason and I get to spend my evening in detention. Lovely." They rounded the corner heading back upstairs when they ran into Cedric.

"Hi Rick." The boy greeted. "I just wanted to thank you for sticking up for me in class, you're a good friend." Cedric said, rather in awe. Rick felt a new surge of annoyance for the boy bubble up inside him. Cedric thought he did that for him? Rick didn't respond.

"Is it ok if I walk with you guys to History of Magic?" Cedric asked.

"Sure." Rigel replied before Rick could fob off the nerdy boy. The less he saw of Cedric, the happier he would be.

History of Magic meant new, thereto unknown levels of boredom for Rick and Rigel. Professor Creedon was a feeble old man only a couple of years away from retirement, or death so it seemed judging by the way he limped to his desk and sat down with a heavy sigh. As he began his lecture, it did not take Rick long to understand that professor Creedon was washed out and absent-mined as he droned on about the origins of magic and the first important wizards, often repeating what he had just said and forgetting student's names. Rick heard just enough to know that it could not interest him even if it had been taught by someone else so he begun doodling on a piece of parchment. Why should he learn about long dead wizards anyway? He wanted to learn magic. When the bell rung to signal the end of class, Rick hurried to the Great Hall to have some supper before he reported to the dungeons for his detention. Selwyn had him pickling rat brains for hours and it was only after midnight that he was finally released. When he got back to the dormitory, the other first years were already asleep and Rick soon joined them, happy that tomorrow was Friday and the weekend was upon them.

Morning came all too soon for Rick's liking but luckily, there were only two classes on the schedule that day, another lecture of Magical Theory and their first class of Transfiguration right after the break. Rick was quite looking forward to Transfiguration. Back in Diagon Alley, Mr. Ollivander had said his wand was good for transfiguration and Rick was eager to test that. When he got down to breakfast, however, his good mood and patience were tested when he saw Rigel chatting with Cedric. The two were discussing homework so Rick wisely kept his mouth shut and ate his breakfast. When he finished, Cedric and Rigel were still talking.

"We should get going or we'll be late for class." Rick reminded Rigel. In reality, they still had enough time to make it before the bell rung but he was eager to get away from Cedric.

"I'll walk with you." The nerdy boy announced with a nervous glance to the other side of the Hall where the Slytherins were just preparing to leave. Rick rolled his eyes in annoyance but before he could turn the nerdy boy down, Rigel replied.

"Sure." Cedric accompanied them all the way to the classroom, jabbering on about some book he'd read on Magical Theory and proceeding to explain in detail how it related to what professor Tuft had talked about in their previous class. Even when they reached the classroom, the nerdy boy took his seat right next to them and continued to blabber and Rick saw even Rigel was now regretting inviting him to come along.

Magical theory was as boring as the first time around and Rick had the hardest time trying not to fall asleep. After class, Rick and Rigel fortunately managed to ditch Cedric and headed outside to enjoy the sunshine on the grassy lawn. The nerdy boy had been so immersed in conversation with Samantha Lewis that he'd never seen them leave. The warm and pleasant sunshine made them doze off and forget about boring classes and professors, so much so that they realized too late that they needed to be heading for Transfiguration.

"Come on, Rick." Rigel encouraged as they sprinted through corridor after corridor. They had no idea where the transfiguration classroom was and it was just cheer luck they ran into Nearly Headless Nick, who happily showed them the way. They had to run the whole way there but made it, out of breath and dishevelled and only ten minutes late. The professor looked up when they came barging in and Rick's heart sank when he saw it was the same teacher who had deducted points from Gryffindor for his fight with Mordaunt. She did not look amused standing in front of the class, a roll of parchment in her hand and staring at them over the rim of her glasses in annoyance.

"Gentlemen," She said curtly. "Got a bit of a late start, did we?" The boys looked at each other and simultaneously replied.

"We got lost."

"Take your seats." The professor said. "That will be five points from Gryffindor for tardiness. Do try to be punctual next time." She said decisively.

Rick and Rigel hastily took the last two seats on the first row of the class next to Regina, who looked disapprovingly at her cousin. The professor consulted her parchment.

"So we have Mr. O'Connell and Mr. ..."

"Bailey, professor." Rigel offered.

"I would advise you boys to be in my classroom five minutes before time in the future or else I will be forced to subtract more points from Gryffindor." She paused to let that sink in. "Now, where was I? Oh, yes... Jeffrey Sanders?

"Present." Sanders replied from a couple of rows behind Rick and Rigel. The professor continued with her list until she had made sure that everyone was present. When she got started with her class, Rick was frustrated to learn the class was like every other one so far. They had to endure another long and boring speech about how transfiguration was one of the most intricate and difficult branches of magic and that it was very hard to master. After fifteen minutes, Rick was starting to wish they had never showed up at all for this class.

"There are different forms of transfiguration. Can anyone tell me what they are?" Professor Rowlett, as they learned her name was, asked. Next to Rick, Regina's hand flew up in the air so fast she almost knocked him off his seat. "Yes?"

"You have switching spells, vanishing spells and conjuring spells." Regina answered excitedly.

"Very good, five points for Ravenclaw." Rowlett said. "Vanishing spells, as the name suggests, make objects disappear while conjuring spells do the opposite. These spells are quite beyond the ability of first years so this year and the next few years as well, we will be primarily concerned with switching spells."

"I wish she would switch herself off." Rigel whispered and Rick couldn't help but snort.

"Problem, Mr. O'Connell?" Rowlett asked, fixing him with a steely stare.

"No, professor." Rick replied innocently.

"There are different kinds of switching spells, Mr. O'Connell, a distinction made according to the object one is transfiguring and the difficulty of it. Can you tell me which distinctions are made?" Rick did not have a clue what Rowlett was talking about and, looking around, he got the impression that he wasn't the only one. Only a couple of students had their hands tentatively in the air, among them of course Cedric, Regina and Samantha Lewis.

"No, professor." Rick replied. Rowlett looked at him disapprovingly.

"You might consider reading up before classes, Mr O'Connell." Rick had the distinct impression professor Rowlett disliked him. Luckily, she directed her attention somewhere else.

"Yes, Mr. Carmichael, is it?" She addressed Cedric.

"One can transfigure objects to objects, objects to animals, animals to objects, human to animal, and so on." He replied.

"Correct, Mr. Carmichael, five points for Gryffindor." Cedric smiled and Rick felt a new surge of annoyance for the nerdy boy. He was such a little know-it-all. Professor Rowlett continued. "This year we will preoccupy ourselves with object-to-object switching spells, meaning changing an object's appearance into that of another." Rowlett proceeded to draw and explain complex diagrams and expanded on difficult theories devised by long dead wizards. Only at the very end of the class when everyone felt like their brains had been squeezed, were they tasked to try and transform a match into a needle. Rick was surprised to find that he got it right after a couple of tries, even though he had understood little of Rowlett's intricate explanation. Even that achievement, however, did not seem to impress Rowlett. When the bell rung to signal the end of class, she gave them their homework assignments and sent them off. Rick and Rigel planned to drop their bags off in the common room before dinner and had just reached the stairs when Cedric caught up with them.

"Hey guys." He panted. "Where are we going?" Rick was in no mood to put up with the annoying boy. His head still ached after Rowlett's intricate diagrams and difficult formulas and he did not need Cedric's endless chatter and ever cheerful appearance to intensify it.

"I don't know where _you're_ going, but _we're_ going to the common room to drop off our things." He said a little irritated.

"Great, I'll come with you." Cedric answered cluelessly. Rick threw Rigel an exasperated look but his friend didn't say anything. "Good thing I knew the answer to professor Rowlett's question, wasn't it? Earned Gryffindor five points. I hope we win the House Cup at the end of the year, don't you?" Cedric said.

"I don't think five points will make the difference." Rick replied dryly. "Fortitudo leonis." He said and the Fat Lady granted them entrance to the common room.

"I know, but it's a start." Cedric answered unperturbed. "What were you guys planning on doing after dinner? I thought perhaps we could go to the library and get started on that transfiguration homework together?" That really made Rick revolt. More transfiguration? And since when did Cedric decide what they did?

"Look, Cedric," Rick addressed the boy. "I don't want to be rude or anything but you're not getting it. This isn't going to work."

"What isn't?" Cedric asked a little taken aback.

"This so-called friendship." Rick replied. "We've been trying to give you hints but you just don't seem to get it so here's a news flash. We don't want to study with you or be your friend so please stop following us around."

"Oh." Cedric looked upset. "Ok, I understand." He said and he retreated to the dormitory, looking quite sullen.

"Ouch, talk about being direct." Rigel said as he and Rick made their way to the portrait hole.

"Oh, come on, you've noticed it as well, haven't you? He's constantly following us." Rick replied.

"I did notice, maybe he really wants to be friends, I don't think he has many." Said Rigel.

"I don't think he's looking for friendship." Rick replied. He couldn't imagine why a studious boy like Cedric would want to be friends with them. "I think he's scared he'll run into a Slytherin all by himself." Rick said wisely. "He's looking for protection and I for one don't want to be his babysitter." Rigel didn't reply. Direct or not, Rick's outburst did seem to have the desired effect and Cedric didn't bother them anymore afterwards.

It was a relief to be able to sleep in the next morning and not having to stuff his head with knowledge. Rick slept in and then spent the day relaxing and learning some magical games from Rigel. His friend introduced him to magical chess where every single piece was alive and instead of moving the pieces manually, you had to give them instructions so they could strike their opponents. Rigel was very good at it and kept beating him but they had a great time playing. That evening, while they were engaged in yet another game and Rigel had just taken Rick's second rook, they were approached by their chubby dormmate Frank McCallum.

"Hey guys? Some of the older boys are asking us to join them." He told them, motioning to the seats by the fire. Rick looked up and saw a couple of older boys looking expectantly at them. Colin, Jeffrey and Cedric were already waiting in front of them on the carpet. Rick's curiosity was stirred.

"We're in the middle of a game." Rigel complained.

"We can finish this later." Rick replied, eager to find out what the older boys wanted with a couple of first years. "Let's see what they have to say."

"You just can't stand losing again." Rigel complained as they made their way over to the fireplace. Rick grinned. His friend was right but he was not about to admit it.

"Lovely. Now that the group's complete we can get started." One of the boys said when Rick and Rigel joined them. "Let us first introduce ourselves." He said. "I'm Bill Crusher and this is Sam Doolan." The boy next to him winked. "We've received the task of testing our new Gryffindors' courage." He paused to let his words sink in and Rick saw several of his classmates looking at each other, unsure of what to expect.

"Tonight you will be given a task that will test your courage and prove if you truly belong in Gryffindor or not. Pass it and you will be welcomed into our house. Fail it and you will find life quite uncomfortable." Bill continued ominously. "Follow me."

He led the somewhat unsure first years out of the common room and along several different corridors. Feeling like they had walked all over the castle, Rick began to wonder where they were headed. When they reached the first floor, they were met by another older Gryffindor student.

"Mike, what's the word?" Crusher hailed him. Mike, a short, broad shouldered fifth year, answered with a grin.

"In the dungeons as usual, creeping around dungeon three."

"To the dungeons then." Doolan said grinning and the three friends led the nervous first years down the stairs. Rick wondered what this was about and who or what was creeping around dungeon three. Were they meeting up with Selwyn tonight? They walked the damp and dark corridors of the dungeons until Crusher motioned for them stop at a corner. Rick, who was right behind him, could just peer down the next corridor and saw that it was deserted but for one presence, that of a ghost halfway down the corridor hovering towards them. When all the boys had assembled, Crusher explained.

"That is the Bloody Baron, the ghost of Slytherin house. He's the ghost you do not want to come across late at night and all alone. All the other ghosts fear him, even Peeves." The first years stared in awe as the Bloody Baron rounded the corner and floated past them with dull eyes staring straight ahead and ignoring the group of Gryffindors completely. He did look quite scary, with a menacing look on his face and silvery spots on his silver robes that Rick suspected had once been blood. The hairs at the back of his neck rose and a chill went through his spine as the baron's presence seemingly made it even chillier in the dungeon corridor.

"He's your task for this evening." Doolan continued. "The Baron has silvery blood stains on his robes, no one knows where they came from. It's your job to find out and come tell us."

"Good luck." Crusher smirked seeing the terrified faces of the first years. None of them dared to move.

"Anderson." Hurst said and Colin jumped at his name, his face as white as a sheet. "You up for it?" Colin stared at the Bloody Baron slowly floating away from them but he did not move or speak.

"McCallum?" Crusher called. "Want to prove you're a Gryffindor?" Frank shook his head and took a step backwards. "Come on, people. Where's that Gryffindor spirit?" Crusher smiled and Rick got the distinct impression that he was enjoying this. This wasn't about courage, Rick realized, this was about Crusher and his mates having a laugh at their expense. They didn't expect anyone to actually try it, they just wanted to make them look like fools. Well, he didn't want to look like a fool and he would wipe that smug smile off Crusher's face.

"Rick, what are you ...?" Rigel said but Rick ignored him and walked straight at the Bloody Baron.

"Excuse me!" The Baron did not respond immediately so Rick broke out in a jog to cut him off. "Sorry. You're the Bloody Baron, right?" Again the Baron did not reply. "I was just wondering where you got that name?" Rick continued. "I mean, how did you get those blood stains on you?" The ghost looked Rick up and down with such a cold look that it sent shivers up Rick's spine. To be honest, he wished he could run away and it took all his willpower to hold the ghost's hollow stare. For a moment, he was convinced this was a terrible idea and he was a bit surprised when the ghost hovered lower so as to come nose to nose with him and spoke:

"Are you sure you want to know? You might regret asking." Rick swallowed but did not budge, determined not to give in to his unease. "I killed the woman I loved so imagine what I would do to you." The Baron said grimly and with that dramatic answer, proceeded to hover along. Rick released the breath he had not realised he was holding and stared at the Baron's retreating back before a low whistle brought his attention back to his fellow Gryffindors.

"Impressive." Doolan said as he came to stand next to him. From the look on his face, Rick judged that he had been right in thinking they had not expected this.

"O'Donnell, wasn't it?" Crusher asked.

"O'Connell." Rick corrected. "He said he killed someone."

"Oh, we suspected as much but that wasn't really the point." Hurst answered with a wink.

"So the test..." Frank started, looking confused.

"Was fake." Doolan supplied. "Just us having a bit of fun."

"No hard feelings." Crusher added.

"Right, I trust you can find your own way back to the common room." Doolan said and with that, the three friends abandoned the first years in the dungeon corridor, joking and laughing amongst themselves.

"Tossers." Anderson was the first to comment and the other boys agreed. "Who do they think they are? Just because they're older, they think they can bully us?"

"You're just mad because they embarrassed you." Rick replied.

"Excuse me?" Colin asked indignantly. "You think that was funny?" Colin asked indignantly. The other four boys watched the exchange rather awkwardly.

"Yeah, the look on your face was pretty funny." Rick chuckled. "For all your talk about being a Gryffindor, you didn't show much courage there, did you?" Colin blushed.

"Shut your mouth, O'Connell." He replied. "That was a pointless test and doesn't prove anything, except perhaps how stupid you are." And with that, he walked away. Cedric, Frank and Jeffrey Sanders followed, leaving only Rigel behind.

"You know, I'm starting to think making friends isn't your strong suit." Rigel said.

"Who wants to be friends with them?" Rick asked rhetorically. "McCallum's totally useless, Anderson's a big windbag and Sanders... I don't like his face."

"I know, it's like a chicken trying to do simple math." Rigel said and Rick laughed as he did a very good impression. "You do know he's right, don't you?" Rigel spoke up as they too started to make their way back to the common room.

"What?" Rick replied dumb-folded.

"Don't get me wrong, it was pretty brave what you did but pretty stupid too." Rigel explained.

"What do you mean?" Rick asked, still not understanding what Rigel was on about.

"The Baron doesn't take kindly to being made fun of. I'll bet you my Cleansweep he'll make you pay for this." Rick stared at his friend.

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" He asked.

"I thought you knew." Rigel answered with a shrug. "Everyone knows not to mess with the Baron or you'll regret it." Rick pondered Rigel's words as they ascended the stairs in silence. Was Rigel right? What would the Bloody Baron do to him? Rick was so engrossed in his thoughts that when they rounded the corner on the fifth floor corridor and ran into Nearly Headless Nick, he jumped in surprise.

"You two should hurry up." Nick advised them. "It's nearly nine and students shouldn't be out in the corridors that late."

"We're on our way to the common room." Rigel replied. "Thanks for the advice." They continued their way and Rick scolded himself for being so easily spooked. Really, what could a ghost do to him? He banned all thoughts of the Baron's revenge from his mind and went to bed feeling reassured.

91


	7. Consequences

CONSEQUENCES

Chapter SEVEN

Consequences

Rick had a rather restful night, void of nightmares about hairy beasts or vengeful ghosts out to kill him. Come morning, it became clear that his dormmates hadn't forgiven him and they each gave him a harsh glare as he passed them on his way to breakfast. Rick ignored them. Rigel was waiting for him in the Great Hall.

"There you are." He greeted Rick. "I thought the Baron had gotten you already."

"Funny." Rick replied dryly.

"Did you see the notice board this morning?" Rigel inquired.

"No, why?" Rick asked as he scooped up beans and sausages.

"Flying lessons start on Tuesday." Rigel said excitedly. "I've been looking forward to that all summer, I'm hoping to get on the team next year." Rick knew that each house had its own quidditch team and played the other houses for the quidditch cup. First years weren't allowed to join, a fact Rigel never stopped complaining about. Rick himself didn't know what to expect from the flying lessons. He'd never flown a broom before so he didn't know if he was any good at it so he didn't say much as Rigel again expanded on his reasons why they should allow first years to join the team.

After breakfast, they planned to head to the common room for a game of Exploding Snap but they had hardly crossed the Entrance Hall when Rigel elbowed him in the ribs and pointed across the Hall. There, the Bloody Baron floated along, making his way to the dungeons. He caught sight of the two boys but didn't show any sign of recognition and floated along looking as sullen and morose as always.

"Seems like the Bloody Baron didn't mind my antics after all." Rick said gleefully.

"You lucky sod." Rigel responded almost admiringly. They spent the rest of the day in the common room playing games and Rick had put the entire debacle with the Bloody Baron out of his mind until he and Rigel walked back to the common room after supper. Rigel was just in the middle of giving Rick some pointers on flying – Rigel had been flying since before he could walk if you could believe him – when Rick was doused in ice cold water.

"Aaahh!" He cried out, gasping for breath and looking around for the source. A cackle above their heads betrayed the culprit. "Peeves!" Rick yelled and the resident poltergeist replied by throwing another balloon at Rick's head. It burst on Rick's shoulder and Peeves laughed again before launching another balloon.

"Stop that!" Rick yelled but Peeves didn't listen, he just kept hurling balloons at Rick. Not being able to get rid of him, Rick and Rigel ran back to the common room for safety where Rick received some hateful sniggers from Anderson and Sanders at the sight of his drenched robes and his hair plastered to his head.

"Tossers." Rick muttered under his breath.

"You'd better change." Rigel said and it was only then that Rick noticed his friend was completely dry.

"Why aren't you soaked?" Rick asked. His friend shrugged.

"I didn't get hit." Sulking at his misfortune and cursing Peeves, Rick went upstairs to change and as soon as he was warm and dry again, he dismissed the incident.

As night fell, however, and the Gryffindor boys had gotten to bed, Rick began to question if Peeves really had it out for him. The Poltergeist had managed to infiltrate the first years' dormitory and chatted away the entire night, resulting in some very tired and aggravated Gryffindor boys in transfiguration class the next morning. Professor Rowlett made even less sense to Rick than she had before and he sorely wished he could go back to bed. The only positive thing about the class was the absence of Peeves, who apparently did not dare to interrupt professor Rowlett's lesson. As soon as class was over, however, he was back and with a vengeance. The poltergeist clearly singled out Rick as he besieged him with ink and books and left the other students alone. Rick could do nothing but duck and dodge and by noon, everyone at Hogwarts seemed to know to avoid that first year Gryffindor who had somehow managed to call upon himself the wrath of Peeves. Even Rigel took to leaving a bit of space between them at all times.

"I don't get it." Rick complained. "What did I do wrong to Peeves?" He dodged another eraser thrown at him.

"I bet the Bloody Baron had something to do with this." Rigel replied wisely. "He's probably the one who put Peeves up to this."

"I didn't know anyone could put Peeves up to anything." Rick said. "He just does what he wants."

"He does, for the most part but you remember what Crusher said, don't you? The only one Peeves is afraid of is the Baron and since you ticked him off..."

"Yeah, yeah, I get the picture. Now someone tells me." Another eraser narrowly missed him and Rick saw Anderson and Sanders a couple of feet behind them laughing at his misery.

"Sadistic twats." Rick muttered.

"What did you expect?" Rigel replied. "You called them cowards." He chuckled as another eraser impacted against the back of Rick's head, leaving another chalk imprint.

"You seem to have a little too much fun at my expense as well, you know." Rick complained.

"I'm sorry mate, but it's kind of funny, you almost look like a ghost yourself covered in all that chalk."

"Well, I'm glad one of us is enjoying this." Rick replied sarcastically.

By the end of the day, Rick was exhausted and he sincerely hoped that Peeves would leave him alone that night. In vain, it turned out, as they had barely gotten in their beds when Peeves entered the dormitory and started yammering away again. The other first year Gryffindor boys soon decided that they would get a better night's sleep in the common room and filed out one by one.

"Rigel? Where are you going?" Rick asked when he saw his friend leave as well.

"Sorry mate but one of us needs to be awake in class tomorrow." His friend replied apologetically. Rick toyed with the idea of following him but he knew Peeves would just follow so he put his pillow over his head in an attempt to drown out the sound and tried to get some rest.

After this second sleepless night, Rick was so exhausted that he decided to skip that morning's class of Potions in favour of getting a little more sleep. Peeves seemed to have bored of him for now and he wanted to make the most of it to catch up on some sleep before he came back. A couple of hours later, however, he was back and to get away from the poltergeist, Rick got up and set off for the Great Hall to find something to eat. Peeves followed him the whole way, taunting him with insults. Rick ignored him. If he didn't react, perhaps Peeves would bore of his faster. He managed quite well until a few floors down Rick felt something wet and mud-like land on the back of his head with a 'SPLASH'.

"Oooh, you stink." Peeves laughed. Rick scraped the substance from his head to find that Peeves had hurled dung at him and he snapped.

"Why don't you leave...me...alone!" Rick yelled throwing the dung he'd scraped off his head at the poltergeist, who did a summersault in the air to dodge it.

"You throw like a girl." Peeves laughed. Rick was fuming and in his anger, he unintentionally levitated one of the harnesses adorning the corridor and made it fly at Peeves.

"Oops." Peeves dodged it, though with more difficulty this time. "Finally got you mad, did I?" The poltergeist jeered and Rick sent another harness flying at him, which the poltergeist just dodged again and it crashed against the opposite wall, joining its brother. The clattering noise attracted the attention of a few students who were coming back from lunch, accompanied by professor Lloyd.

"Mr. O'Connell, stop that immediately!" The professor called out. For such an old man, he had no trouble sounding authoritarian. "Peeves, get out!" The poltergeist stuck out his tongue but obeyed nevertheless, dropping the rest of the dung on the floor and hovering away, laughing loudly. The surrounding students pulled their noses at the stench.

"My office, O'Connell." Lloyd commanded pointing to a nearby door and Rick obeyed, still breathing heavily in anger. "The rest of you, move along." Lloyd told the small audience of students. The professor closed the door of his office and turned to face Rick.

"It is not allowed to destroy school property." He began.

"But Peeves, he..." Rick tried to defend himself but Lloyd wasn't finished.

"And I heard from professor Selwyn that you missed his class this morning." Lloyd interrupted. "May I enquire as to your whereabouts?"

"I was sleeping." Rick said. "Peeves..."

"Sleeping?" Lloyd interrupted again. "Did you miss your wake-up call?"

"No, but..."

"Or did you decide to just ignore it?" Rick did not answer and Lloyd sighed. "I do not take skipping class lightly, Mr. O'Connell. You will present yourself in Mrs. Whifferdill's office Friday night at six for your detention." He said. "Be thankful I won't deduct points for this and don't let me catch you skipping classes again. Now, head to your class and I will know if you skip it." Lloyd warned.

Angry and frustrated with Lloyd's reaction and unwillingness to hear his side, Rick marched to the first floor for his History of Magic class and dropped his books down on a desk near the back of the classroom. He was still scraping the remaining dung off the back of his head when the other pupils filed in. Rigel took a seat next to him.

"Hey, you made it. I didn't think you'd show up at all today." He greeted Rick. "What's that smell?"

"Don't, just don't." And thankfully, Rigel took the hint and shut up. Professor Creedon presented them with a long lecture on Uric the Oddball but Rick had a hard time concentrating. He was still fuming at the situation and his stomach was growling constantly. He desperately wished for class to be over so he could get something to eat.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Peeves'll tire of you eventually." Rigel comforted him as they walked to the Great Hall for lunch, dodging eggs that Peeves was throwing at him.

"Eventually can't come soon enough." Rick said as he swiped some egg yolk off his robes. That afternoon, Rick was quite thankful their classes took place outside of the castle, where Peeves couldn't get to him. They had their first flying lesson and the last thing he needed was Peeves trying to toss him off his broom for fun. Luckily, he seemed to be absent.

"Merlin, I can't wait to get back on a broom." Rigel said for what seemed the thousandth time as they crossed the terrace to where their flying lesson was to take place. "It seems like ages since I last flew!" Rick nodded absentmindedly. He'd never flown before so he did not really know what to expect but Rigel assured him that flying was the best thing in the world. His friend was not alone in his enthusiasm, all of the first years were excited to fly. It seemed like every child with magical parents had flown before and most of them talked a lot about quidditch. Rick learned that Professor Shaw, their instructor, used to be one of the better quidditch players when he was young. Apparently, he had played beater for the Appleby Arrows and had been quite good before he retired from professional quidditch and came to Hogwarts to teach.

Rigel and Rick were the first ones to arrive, it had to be the first time they were actually early for class. The only other person there was professor Shaw, a rather short and stout man with square shoulders and short brown hair. His nose looked like it had been broken at least twice. He was laying out the brooms in two rows when he noticed them.

"Hello, boys." He greeted them. "You're early. Excited about your first flying lesson?"

"Yes sir, I can't wait." Rigel replied excitedly. "I've been flying loads at home on my Cleansweep, I'm hoping to try out for the team next year."

"Excellent, I look forward to seeing what you can do." The professor smiled at Rigel's enthusiasm. "What about you?" He addressed Rick.

"First time." Rick replied uneasy. He was beginning to think he would be the only one who'd never flown a broom before. Well, him and Frank McCallum.

"Well, don't worry, it's easy as pie." Shaw reassured him. Rigel and professor Shaw chatted about quidditch until the rest of the class had arrived. The arrival of a group of Slytherins with Mordaunt at the head did nothing to soothe Rick's nerves and he briefly wondered what was worse when you were twenty feet up in the air, Peeves haunting you or a Slytherin out for revenge.

"Good afternoon everyone. Welcome to your first flying lesson." Shaw started. "Let's not waste any time, I have laid out a broom for each student. Pick a broom, raise your hand over it and say 'up'." Rick took a spot between Rigel and McCallum and held his hand over his broom as professor Shaw had instructed.

"Up!" He said and his broom shot up in his hand. He smiled in relief and looked around to see how the others had done. Rigel had succeeded his first try as well, as had a few others. Rick couldn't help but feeling a little smug when he saw Cedric hadn't managed to get his broom up. Next to him, Lewis was struggling as well and Rick couldn't help but smile. It was satisfying to know she wasn't good at everything. Lewis needed almost ten 'ups' before her broom finally jumped up in her hand. Cedric took the longest to get his broom. Of course, it did not help that across from him, Mordaunt was snickering at his struggle, making Cedric's face redden and made him even more nervous. When everyone finally had their brooms in hand, professor Shaw showed them how to mount it and what was the right way to grip it.

"That's it, Bailey, very good." He complemented Rigel on his grip and Rigel looked very smug about it.

"Alright, I see everyone's getting the hang of it. Let's do a bit of flying then, shall we?" Professor Shaw announced. "When I blow my whistle, you will push off from the ground and hover for a moment before landing smoothly back on the ground. Everyone ready?" Shaw blew his whistle and as soon as Rick set off, he realised Rigel was right. Flying was easy, flying was fun, flying was amazing. Before he got to experiment with this new wonderful experience however, professor Shaw made them land to discuss good grip and technique again. They practised taking off and landing a few more times and even got to fly a few yards before class was over. All in all, it was the most interesting class they had had so far, Rick thought and he was disappointed it had to end so soon.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I had expected a little more from that class." Rigel complained as they walked back to the castle.

"I thought you would've enjoyed it?" Rick said to his friend. "After all, you couldn't shut up about it."

"I did, but I thought we were going to do more than hovering and practising good grip." Rigel complained as they entered the great oak doors. Rick was just going to say he agreed when they rounded the corner and ran straight into a group of Slytherins. Mordaunt was among them, his cousin Martin Rydell accompanying him as always, and they were accompanied by the two older boys they'd met on the train, Zayne and the massive Trevill. They were huddled in a group and Rick wondered what they were doing when Zayne noticed them.

"Nothin' to see here, move along." He said but Rick and Rigel didn't move. Behind Zayne, Rydell was holding a terrified looking Cedric at wand point against the wall. Trevill turned around to face them and rubbed his knuckles menacingly.

"Let him go." Rigel said, undeterred.

"Are you going to order us around now, you foul blood traitor?" Mordaunt threatened, turning away from Cedric to confront Rigel. "You want to help your pathetic boyfriend?" Mordaunt sneered, standing nose to nose with Rigel, trying to intimidate him. Rick saw his friend hesitate and he understood why. If they picked a fight with Mordaunt, the other Slytherins would step in and they'd be outnumbered four to two. Mordaunt seemed to have noticed this as well.

"Thought as much." He smirked. "Look chaps, at the courage of Gryffindors." The other Slytherins laughed. Mordaunt faced Rigel again. "Better transfer to Ravenclaw, Bailey, they don't mind cowards there." He sniggered and shoved Rigel on the shoulder. In a flash, Rick stepped forward and shoved Mordaunt back.

"You filthy mudblood, how dare you touch me!" Mordaunt raised his wand and Rick did the same, though he did not have a clue what he would do with it. He did not yet know any real spells. He thought of the leg-locker curse Rigel had taught him but he didn't know how much good that would do. Rigel came to stand next to him, wand at the ready while Mordaunt had the support of his cronies. At that moment and perhaps luckily, professor Shaw came around the corner.

"What's happening here? Put down your wands!" He yelled and everyone lowered their wands except Rick and Mordaunt. Shaw came to stand between them. "Duelling's forbidden outside of class. Ten points from each house." Rick wanted to object but Shaw intervened. "Now I suggest you forget about this before you make it worse and head to your common rooms, off you go." The Slytherins left, still glaring and grumbling angrily while Rick, Rigel and Cedric walked away in the opposite direction.

"Thanks guys." Said Cedric, jogging to keep up with them and adjusting his glasses so they were on straight again.

"No problem." Rigel waved it off. "Why did Mordaunt and his cronies come after you anyway?" He inquired. Cedric shrugged.

"Just because he can, I guess."

"You need to stand up for yourself, Carmichael. Don't let Mordaunt just walk over you." Rigel advised him.

"I'm not!" The two friends gave him an incredulous look. "I mean, I try not to."

"Of course you do." Rick replied sarcastically.

"So, do you guys want to go over that Transfiguration essay for Monday?" Cedric asked when they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, apparently under the impression that the incident with Mordaunt had made them friends again.

"No." Both friends were quick to reply. They had planned on playing a bit of wizard chess. Rigel was teaching Rick some basic strategies and it was far more fun than homework.

"Are you planning to hand it in this time, Rick?" Cedric asked again. "I could help you, if you want." So far, Rick had failed to hand in a single piece of homework, not because he did not understand the material, but because he was terrible at writing it all down and it was a waste of time anyway. How would writing an essay help with casting a spell? Homework was for teacher's pets and people who needed help understanding the subject matter and he was neither of those. He was, however, annoyed that Cedric was being so meddlesome.

"That's really none of your business, is it?" He snubbed. "You just make sure yours is done and leave me alone. Off you go." Cedric got the message and slinked off.

"That was a little harsh, wasn't it?" Rigel commented. "He was just offering to help."

"He needs to mind his own business." Rick replied. "And I don't need his help." Rigel shrugged.

"If you say so. He has a point, though, you're going to have to do homework sometime." Rick didn't like to think about that.

"I know, just not now." He tried to persuade his friend. "Now can we play some chess?" He tried to change Rigel's mind and thankfully, Rigel consented and let the subject of homework drop.

As Rigel had predicted, Peeves became bored harassing Rick and that night, Rick had his first good night sleep in three nights. The rest of the week passed without incidents as well. The tension that had existed between Rick and the other first year Gryffindor boys after the Gryffindor challenge dissipated somewhat, though Rick was still not very popular with his house-mates. This was primarily due to Rick getting behind on homework more and more, causing Gryffindor to lose more and more points and that didn't sit well with his house-mates. Anderson, Sanders and McCallum didn't speak to him, others glared at him whenever he passed or called him names like 'sluggard' and 'sponger'. Rick ignored them mostly. He felt they were overreacting. Besides, it wasn't like he did it on purpose. It was just that things kept getting in the way. Every time he decided to put quill to paper, something distracted him like other students playing a game in the common room or a deck of cards with which he could build a card castle and before he knew it, the next class was there and he had not done his homework.

All in all, when Friday came around, Rick was more than ready for the weekend to begin. Before he could start enjoying the free time without nagging students and teachers, however, he still had his detention with Whifferdill. A couple of minutes before six, Rick made his way to her office on the ground floor.

"Come in." Whifferdill replied when Rick knocked on the door. Upon entering, Rick saw that he was not alone, a girl was sitting on the chair in front of Whifferdill's desk. She had dark brown hair messily tied into a ponytail and looked quite plain. Rick recognised her, he had seen her before in class and in the Gryffindor common room though he could not recall her name.

"O'Connell, excellent, we can get started." Whifferdill said. Madame Whifferdill was an older lady, grey streaking her dark blond hair. She had quite broad shoulders for a woman and a sturdy frame and she didn't look like you would fool her any day.

"Come along you two." She commanded and Rick and the girl followed her to the third floor where she showed them into a room where all the walls were lined with shelves filled with all sizes of trophies, plaques, statuettes, shields and medals. There were thousands of them, so much that everywhere you looked, you could see something glittering.

"Welcome to the trophy room." Whifferdill said matter-of-factly. "You'll be cleaning all of these tonight so I suggest you get to it. Here's your rag and cleaning product. Oh and... no magic." She took up post on an old chair near the entrance and calmly took up her knitting. Resigned to their fate, Rick grabbed the rag and set to work at one end of the room while the girl was ordered to start at the other end so they could not talk. It was very tedious and hard work, some of the trophies looked like they hadn't been cleaned in ages and required lengthy scrubbing before Madame Whifferdill was satisfied. After what had to be at least four hours of cleaning, just as Rick's arm began to seriously cramp up and he wondered how much longer he was supposed to clean, the girl called over to him.

"Psst!" Rick looked over his shoulder to check on Whifferdill to see the concierge had fallen asleep. "How's it going on your end?" The girl whispered.

"Slow." He whispered back, careful not to wake their supervisor. "You?" The girl shrugged.

"The same." There was a small pause. "So what did you do to land you in this mess?"

"Failure to attend class and destroying school property." Rick replied.

"Bold." The girl said. Rick didn't really know how to answer that.

"Thanks... I guess."

"I'm here because she caught me trying out a dungbomb." The girl said with a nod to Whifferdill. Rick briefly wondered what a dungbomb was but decided not to ask. He did not want to look stupid, he would ask Rigel later.

"So, are your parents wizards?" She asked again. Rick felt himself getting annoyed with this girl asking these questions.

"You are quite talkative aren't you?" Rick replied rather snappily.

"I'm just trying to make conversation." She replied unperturbed. "Polishing plaques and trophies for a few hours gets pretty boring. Terri Thompson's the name by the way and I never knew about magic until a few weeks ago. Now I'm here at Hogwarts, the best school for learning magic. Wicked, isn't it?"

"Sure." Rick replied off-handly. He did not think magic school was all that great, so far it had been tough on him and he didn't feel like he was learning magic at all.

"So are you pureblood, halfblood, muggleborn or am I to guess?" She tried.

"Oh for heaven's sake! You're impossible!" Rick's voice rose and Whifferdill grunted. Both Gryffindors went silent and watched anxiously as the concierge went back to her soft snoring.

"Yes, but I got you talking, didn't I?" The girl whispered and she smiled mischievously. Rick could not help crack a smile at her reply and he faced his shelf again to keep her from seeing it. He grabbed the next plaque to clean. It was a photograph of seven people, all dressed in the same robes, each holding brooms except for the person in the middle who was holding a cup. The people in the picture were moving, all smiling, one or two even crying tears of joy. As he scrubbed the frame, Rick's eye fell on the girl in the middle of the front row, smiling at the person who took the photograph. Her hair was tied into a long ponytail and she looked no older than four- or fifteen. She looked familiar. He read the inscription at the bottom of the plaque. ' _Gryffindor Quidditch Team, 1978'_. Under it were the names of the players and next to _Seeker_ was the name Angela Aplin. Rick's eyes went back to the girl in the picture and with a jolt he realised that the girl looked exactly like his mother. A younger version perhaps, with longer hair but most definitely a dead-ringer for his mother. Rick glanced back at the name, Angela Aplin. His mother always went by Angela O'Connell but Aplin could have been her maiden name. His mind was going a mile a minute. Could his mother have attended Hogwarts? Could she have been a witch? Why did he not remember this? Surely he would have remembered his mother waving around a wand in their house.

"That plaque should be cleaned, not stared at!" Rick jumped a foot in the air at Whifferdill's voice right behind him. He did not know how long he had been staring at the photograph but apparently it had been long enough for Whifferdill to have awoken. Rick hastily placed the plaque back on the shelf and proceeded to the next one but it would not stop haunting his thoughts. About half an hour later they were finally allowed to stop and Rick and Terri made their way back to the Gryffindor common room through the empty and dark corridors of the castle.

"Are you alright?" Terri asked. "You seem quiet. Not that you were particularly talkative before."

"I'm fine, just... just tired, that's all." Rick replied. He did not feel like talking, there were too many questions on his mind. How could his mother have attended Hogwarts and not tell him about it? Taking the hint, Terri thankfully refrained from speaking until they reached the common room. It was abandoned at this time of night.

"Well, it was nice to get to know you, well, the little I did get to know." Terri said as they reached the top of the stairs to their respective dormitories. She held out her hand and Rick shook it. "Until next time."

"Right." Rick replied absentmindedly.

"Well, goodnight." And she turned around to head to her dormitory.

"Goodnight." Rick replied and he turned and headed for his own. The other Gryffindor boys were already asleep when he came in so he tried to undress quietly and quickly got into bed. His whole body ached and he longed to sleep off the stiffness in his arm but as it was, he was wide awake. Why had his mother never told him she was a witch? The question burned in his mind and an hour later, when it became apparent that sleep was as near as an answer to his questions, Rick decided he'd had enough. He quietly snuck out of bed and crossed the dormitory on tiptoes, not wanting to wake the others and answer difficult questions.

CLANG! Rick sucked in his breath at the pain his foot. He had forgotten about the stove in the middle of the dormitory. He listened for a moment with bated breath if anyone had awoken from the noise. Rigel was tossing around in his bed and Rick decided to quickly make himself scarce before his friend woke up completely. He limped across the common room and through the portrait hole before he realised he did not know where he wanted to go to get his answers. A noise behind him shook him out of his thoughts. It would not be good to get caught wandering around the school at this hour of the night. Making a decision, Rick set forth. He walked carefully along the empty corridors, taking a wrong turn once or twice but eventually he reached the trophy room again. It did not take long to find the photograph and confirm that he had not imagined his mother's name on it. He turned it around, looking for clues.

CLANG! Rick jumped almost two feet in the air when a trophy fell over about six feet away from him.

"Who's there?" He called out. There was no reply but he could hear hurried footsteps and saw the door open of its own accord. Was it Peeves? But why would Peeves run away? Rick put the plaque back on the shelf and chased after the invisible figure. He had scarcely run a couple of meters when he heard another voice speak, one that made his heart sink.

"Hello? Is someone there?" It was professor Griffiths. Judging from the light, he was just around the corner. If he caught Rick here now, there would be another detention in his future. "Hello?" Griffiths drew closer and Rick looked around for a place to hide but there was none. In a few seconds he would be spotted. Suddenly, someone grabbed him from behind and pulled him behind some sort of curtain. Rick would have yelled if it hadn't been for the hand covering his mouth.

"Hello?" Professor Griffiths rounded the corner and was standing right before him, the light of his wand reflecting in his eyes. There was no way he could not see him. Yet, he did not seem to notice him. "Hello?" He called out once more. After about a minute, professor Griffiths apparently decided he had imagined things and retreated. As soon as the coast was clear, the hand around Rick's mouth loosened and the fabric was pulled away.

"That was close." The familiar voice of Rigel said. Rick was dumb folded.

"Rigel? What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you." He answered. "I heard you leave the dormitory and decided to see what you were up to."

"You were following me? Why?" Rick asked accusingly.

"I couldn't sleep and I thought you were up to mischief and I wanted in. Lucky for you I did or you would have been caught by Griffiths."

"Yes, why weren't we caught by Griffiths?" Rick asked, still not understanding what had happened. "I thought for sure we were done for. He was standing right in front of us."

"Because of this." Rigel said and he held up a light type of fabric. "It's an invisibility cloak." He explained.

"An invisibility cloak? You mean it makes you invisible?"

"Yeah. I got it from my uncle for my eleventh birthday. He made me promise not to tell my parents or they would take it away immediately."

"Where can I get one?" Rick asked enthusiastically.

"Dunno. They're quite rare. I don't even know where my uncle got one. They do come in handy for sneaking around though." Rigel said, grinning mischievously.

"So what were you doing in there?" Rigel asked with a nod to the trophy room. Rick hesitated to tell his friend the truth. He wasn't sure if he was ready to let him know what he had discovered, especially when he did not know himself what his discovery meant.

"I thought I forgot something earlier." He lied.

"In the trophy room?" Rigel asked a little incredulously. "Why would you go in there?"

"We had detention in there for Whifferdill."

"Oh, I see. So what did you forget that couldn't wait until morning?"

"Nothing." Rick replied without thinking.

"But I thought you said..." Rigel started.

"I was mistaken." Rick said, eager to drop the subject. "Let's get back to the common room, shall we?"

Under the cover of the invisibility cloak, they easily made it back to the dormitory undetected. Rick wondered if he could get Rigel to lend it to him sometime, invisibility opened the door to a whole new range of possibilities. With those exiting prospects in mind, Rick went back to bed. Two more hours passed before his body finally succumbed to sleep but he did not think about leaving the dormitory again that night. One experience of nearly getting caught was enough for one night.

108


	8. The Mysterious Benefactor

THE MYSTERIOUS BENEFACTOR

Chapter EIGHT

The Mysterious Benefactor

The next morning Rick still felt quite tired. It had been a restless sleep, filled with nightmares about _that_ night. At least it was Saturday and that meant it was nearly noon when Rick descended the stairs to the common room. Looking around, he saw Rigel sitting by the window reading a letter.

"Morning." Rick announced as he plopped down across from his friend.

"Morning." Rigel replied with a yawn, putting down his letter.

"Looks like someone could do with a few more hours of sleep." Rick teased.

"Yes, well, I could have if someone didn't keep me awake half the night with his moaning." Rigel gave him a meaningful look and Rick grimaced.

"Sorry."

"It's fine. I guess I still have to get used to sharing a dorm instead of having a quiet room to myself." Rigel replied. "Must have been some nightmare, though." Rick froze. He had dreamed about his mother's death again last night but he wasn't keen on telling Rigel that. He didn't want Rigel to think he was a pansy. Luckily, he was saved from having to answer when a cheery voice interrupted them.

"Good morning!" Terri happily sat down next to Rigel who stared at her as if she was mad.

"Who are you?" Rigel asked. The look of confusion on his face was priceless.

"Terri Thompson." Terri held her hand out and Rigel took it.

"We met last night in detention." Rick offered as explanation.

"A whole evening cleaning those bloody trophies. My arm is still killing me." Terri complained.

"What did you do to get detention?" Rigel asked her. Terri shrugged.

"I got caught throwing a dungbomb." She answered.

"Let me guess, you forgot to wash your hands?" Rigel asked and Terri nodded. "Rookie mistake. I would suggest you use gloves next time." At Rick's confused look, he explained. "Dungbombs cause your hands to get filthy, which makes it easier for professors to identify you as the culprit."

"Thanks for the tip." Terri said. Terri hung out with them for the rest of the day and she turned out to be a lot of fun for a girl. It turned out she had not really made any friends among the other Gryffindor girls.

"Honestly, most of them only want to talk about handsome band members. I just want to see what happens when you throw a dungbomb and how to set off some Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start No-Heat Fireworks." The boys laughed.

"Where do you get all that stuff?" Rick asked.

"I got them with my dad on Diagon Alley." Terri answered. "He thought they were funny."

"I wish I had a dad like that." Rigel said. "Mine just calls them rubbish and a waste of time."

"I'll happily share." Terri offered. "We could try one out right now, if you want?" The two boys took her up on her offer and the three of them ended up having a bit of revenge on Selwyn that day by throwing a dungbomb at the door of his office. Thanks to Rigel's invisibility cloak, he never found out who'd done it and the three of them laughed at Selwyn's rage all the way back to the common room. After that, the three of them became friends and more often than not, you could find them in the common room together having fun.

On Monday, however, they had a lot less to laugh about as the week did not start so well. Monday morning they arrived late in Charms class, earning them a slap on the wrist from Griffiths and it only got worse from there on for Rick. He got twenty points deducted for failing to turn in his Transfiguration homework again and got a lecture from Rowlett in front of the entire class about the importance of doing homework, almost making them all late for their next class. The other professors didn't appreciate Rick's failure to hand in homework either. Professor Lloyd, their Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, gave Rick detention for not doing his homework and professor Harewell admonished him and took five points for not turning in his paper on Moly. In History of Magic on Tuesday, they got a surprise test with a couple of questions about what they had learned the week before. Of course, having paid little attention in class and having been too busy playing games the night before, Rick hadn't studied and scored terrible. Therefore, he was tasked with writing an additional essay about _'Đæs lares galdorcræftes'_ , the first and oldest book of spells known to wizards, the only one next to McCallum, who was probably the poorest student in their year. Professor Selwyn didn't hesitate either to take twenty points when he discovered Rick had not written his essay on the boil cure potion. Losing all these points and racking up detentions didn't make Rick even less popular to the other Gryffindors. He couldn't sit quietly in the common room anymore for any length of time without receiving a nasty comments or a few glares. Rick himself felt they were overreacting and as long as he had Rigel and Terri to have fun with, he didn't let the Gryffindors' attitude bother him. That said though, even they began to feel uncomfortable about the situation. Whenever they were doing homework – Rick often doodling or playing with cards instead – they started urging him to put quill to parchment and write something. Rick ignored them or deflected the suggestion.

Wednesday brought an unpleasant surprise for Rick. Charms class had started out promising as professor Griffiths announced they were going to learn how to cast fire. Rick, Rigel and Terri's disappointment was great when they learned they were to spend the entire class practising just the movement for the spell. They spent an hour waving their wands around like idiots and when the class ended, Rick hurriedly grabbed his things to get out of there when Griffiths stopped him.

"O'Connell, do you have a moment?" Rick wistfully watched his friends head out before approaching Griffiths desk. He had no idea what the man wanted to talk to him about and tried to think what he could have done wrong now.

"Do you know why I want to talk to you?" Griffiths asked politely.

"No professor." Rick answered.

"You're here because I've been getting reports about you not handing in any homework." Rick didn't reply, there was no use denying it. "Is this true?" The professor prompted.

"Yes, professor." Replied Rick bluntly. Griffiths sighed.

"As your head of house, it is my duty to talk to you about this. Now, I know it may not be fun to do work outside of classes but rules are rules. When you're older you get to decide how much homework you give yourself, Merlin knows I try to limit it as much as possible." He said jovially, winking at Rick. "For now, however, you're a student and you need to do as you're told. Do we understand each other?" Rick did not answer, he didn't really know what to say. "Then I trust you will work harder and hand in your work from now on." He finished, motioning he could leave. Rick obliged and left, not really sure what had just happened. Griffiths wanted him to work harder when he himself only ever did the bare minimum? Rick didn't feel it was very fair and he did not feel any urgent need to do his homework. He spent that evening playing gobstones with Rigel and Terri, completely forgetting the conversation with Griffiths. On Friday, professor Rowlett had a near fit when Rick told her that he had not done his homework again. He did not think he had seen anyone so frustrated and mad before and he kind of thought it was funny to see the normally composed Rowlett so rattled, right up until she deducted twenty points and gave him detention again. After class, Rick caught up with Rigel and Terri in the corridor as they were heading to the common room to drop off their stuff before lunch, when a hand closed around his arm and he was suddenly and rather roughly pulled aside.

"What are you doing?" It was Lewis and she did not look happy.

"Excuse me?"

"Do you not care about Gryffindor at all?!" Her voice pitched a little higher.

"Again, excuse me?" Rick repeated.

"What's going on?" Rigel joined in.

"Your friend here is constantly loosing Gryffindor points because he simply refuses to do his homework."

"How is that your business?" Rigel came to Rick's defence. "He can do whatever he wants."

"Unbelievable! You actually encourage it!"

"Rigel's right, you little know-it-all." Rick intervened. "I can do what I want and you have no say in that so keep your nose out of other people's business, will you?" Lewis stormed off in frustration, leaving the three friends alone.

"She does have a point, you know." Rigel spoke up when they were out of earshot.

"Sorry?" Rick asked confused.

"Why don't you put something on parchment for Selwyn by Tuesday so he doesn't have another reason to deduct points again?" Rigel suggested.

"I thought you said I didn't have to explain myself, that I could do what I wanted?" Rick asked, not understanding.

"You can, it's just that you doing what you want is going to place Gryffindor last in this year's House Cup race." Terri explained. "And it's not just Lewis, there are a lot of Gryffindors who think you're being arrogant and selfish."

"Who cares what they think?" Rick said indignantly. He hadn't thought his friends would turn against him like this.

"No one, but if you keep losing Gryffindor points, you'll soon become the most hated Gryffindor and no one will want to be your friend." Rick looked at her, trying to ascertain if she meant that included her and Rigel as well. She held his gaze, not revealing anything and Rick sighed.

"What's the point of writing essays?" He asked. "We're supposed to be learning how to do magic, not how to wield a quill. When they ask me to practise an actual spell, believe me, I'll gladly do my homework." Rick said.

That evening, Lewis was shooting daggers at him from a nearby table as Rick was checking how many cards he could throw to land on the chair across from him.

"Yes!" Rick hissed when one of the cards he'd thrown whizzed across the chair's seat and remained delicately balancing on the edge of the chair. Terri put down her copy of _The Art of Potion Making_ with a sigh.

"Why don't you join us writing the essay for Selwyn?" She asked sounding a little annoyed.

"I'm busy." Rick replied, throwing another card. It skidded over the others and flew over the edge of the chair to land on the ground.

"Throwing cards?" Terri said sceptically. "Why don't you do something a little more useful?"

"Like what?" Rick asked, aiming his next card.

"Like working on the essay for Selwyn?" Terri said pointedly.

"I told you, I'll start doing homework when they tell us to practise spells." Rick said, throwing his card which landed perfectly on the chair.

"You don't think I prefer doing actual magic than this tedious work?" Terri said. "This vendetta against the teachers won't get you anywhere, except perhaps suspended." Rick had not seen her so frustrated before.

"What's up with you?" He asked. "Ate something wrong at dinner?" he grinned at his own joke but Terri didn't join in, and neither did Rigel. Rigel shrugged.

"She has a point, mate." Rick looked from one of his friends to the other. "Why are you on my case about this? You dislike homework just as much as I do. Stop being moody about it and just don't do it." He snarled at them.

"No thanks." Terri said, collecting her things from the table. "Unlike you, I actually care about Gryffindor." She marched off to the girl's dormitory.

"Seriously, what's got her knickers in a twist?" Rick asked his friend.

"You." Rigel replied tersely. He was also collecting his things.

"Where are you going?" Rick asked him.

"I need a place a little less distracting to finish this paper." Rigel replied, moving to a different table across the common room. Rick watched him go, feeling he and Terri were blowing things out of proportion. At the next table, he caught Lewis looking smug at him, as if to say 'I told you so'. To prevent her from being able to comment on the situation, Rick got up as well and walked to the portrait hole. He didn't really know where he wanted to go, he just wanted to get as far away from his housemates as he could. He walked several corridors, not really thinking about where he was going until he found himself in a part of the castle that was completely unfamiliar to him. There were no paintings in this part of the castle, in fact, it looked very much like it had been a while since anyone had come here. The abundant presence of spider webs and the absence of light fixtures made the corridor look peculiarly creepy and desolate. Curious, Rick opened one of the doors and entered what seemed to be an old abandoned class room. Old and broken desks and chairs were piled up against the wall and a thick layer of dust covered the floor. It looked like it had once served as a classroom until it was no longer useful. As he took in the room's features, it was as if someone put on a light inside Rick's head, a light that filled him with excitement. He had found a place where no one came, where he could do whatever he liked without anyone commenting or criticizing. He whipped out his wand and tried to think of a spell he could try. The fire charm they had been preparing for in Charms class came to mind.

"Incendio." He said as he performed the wand movement they'd practised endlessly. Immediately, an uncontrolled large burst of flames sprouted from the tip of his wand. Rick smirked, finally he was doing magic.

He had no idea how long he practised so when he started heading back to the common room, – this time paying attention to where he was going so he could find the room again later – he treaded carefully as he wasn't entirely sure he was allowed to roam the halls at this hour and he wasn't looking to spend another evening in detention. As he reached the third floor, he heard footsteps coming his way and Rick quickly hid behind the first door he could find, leaving the door slightly ajar. The footsteps came closer still and through the gap, Rick saw professor Griffiths walking passed, looking around as if he didn't want to be seen and heading down the stairs. For a moment, Rick wondered what that was about but then decided he couldn't be bothered, he needed to make sure he got to the common room without getting caught. He waited a few minutes to make sure the coast was clear before leaving his hiding place and continuing his journey. Ten minutes later, he had safely reached the common room and headed directly for the dormitories where the other first year boys were just getting ready for bed.

"Where have you been?" Colin Anderson demanded as Rick made to change in his pyjamas. "You weren't in the common room."

"I went for a stroll." Rick answered casually.

"We're not allowed out this late." Jeffrey Sanders, Colin's mate, pointed out. "If you'd gotten caught, you'd have cost Gryffindor points again."

"I got lost." Rick answered, hoping to get them off his back. The other boys huffed and went back to their preparations.

"A stroll?" Rigel whispered to him. "Since when do you go out for a stroll?" Rick noticed Cedric looking over, clearly trying to listen in on their conversation.

"I just felt like it." Rick replied curtly as he got into bed. He wasn't about to tell Rigel about his discovery, not after he and Terri had made it clear they felt the same about him as the other Gryffindors did. "Goodnight." Rigel still looked a bit sceptical but thankfully, didn't pursue the matter.

"Alright, goodnight." He answered.

The following days, Rick distanced himself more and more from Terri and Rigel, leaving them to their homework while he travelled back to the empty classroom to practise magic for hours on end. Each time he returned, Terri and Rigel would ask where he'd been but he managed to evade their questions and left them under the impression he was doing homework someplace else. Thankfully, they didn't ask too many questions and bought his excuses. Lewis, however, wasn't as easily deterred and Rick caught her glaring at him every time she saw him doing something other than homework. Rick didn't let it bother him. She could glare all she wanted but she wasn't going to dampen his spirit, he'd finally found something he enjoyed and was good at and he wasn't about to let her ruin his joy. Sunday evening, however, Lewis decided to bring the matter up again. Rick was just playing a round of Exploding Snap with Rigel and Terri when she came to stand next to their table, arms crossed.

"Have you done your homework yet, O'Connell?" She asked. Rick scarcely looked at her.

"In a way." He replied evasively, pretending to be absorbed by his next move.

"What's that for an answer? Did you write the paper for Rowlett or didn't you?" She demanded.

"Nope." Rick answered truthfully. He saw Rigel and Terri look at him surprised but he ignored them.

"And don't you think you should get started on that?" Lewis asked, her patience tested.

"Nope." Rick replied again, finding a kind of pleasure in Lewis's frustration.

"So you're just going to let Gryffindor lose more points?"

"Since when are you my mother, Lewis?" The red head bristled.

"Unlike you, I'd actually like Gryffindor to do well and speaking of mothers, I wonder what yours has to say about this or did she raise you to be so selfish and pigheaded?" Her comment about his mother made Rick snap. What did Lewis with her perfect life know about his life? She should mind her own business and leave him alone.

"Piss off, Lewis." He growled, making it clear to her that she should drop the issue. Lewis raised her eyebrow in response.

"And being a little more polite wouldn't hurt either, you know." She said. "We didn't do anything wrong here, our only mistake was thinking you cared about our house and your friends." Rick dropped his cards and stormed off, leaving a grimacing Rigel and a confused Terri and Lewis behind. Lewis probably didn't know that what she'd said was so inconsiderate but at the moment, Rick could not see past that. She had no right to talk about his mother. He slammed the door of the dormitory behind him, got into bed and closed the curtains. He wasn't tired yet but he wanted to be alone. Five minutes later, he heard the door open.

"Are you alright?" It was Rigel but Rick did not feel like talking to him at the moment. He didn't reply and after about half a minute, he heard Rigel leave again.

He lay awake for a long time that night, tossing and turning in his bed long after all the other boys had gone to sleep. He wasn't sure what was keeping him from sleep until he realized it was Lewis's accusation. He knew she was right, his mother would have given him an earful if she knew he was making a mess of school and Rick felt more guilty about that than he cared to admit. On the other hand, she'd never told him she went to Hogwarts and that she was a witch. If she had only told him that he was a wizard, he would never have felt as alone as he had these past three years thinking he was a freak and if she hadn't died in the first place, he wouldn't have had to live with Mad Maggie and be in this mess. So why would he do what she would want him to do? The matter continued to haunt his mind for a long time before fatigue finally overpowered him.

The next morning, Rigel and Terri looked a little apprehensive when they greeted him at breakfast that morning. Terri especially looked a bit awkward and Rick figured Rigel had told her about his parents but thankfully, they didn't ask any questions and they were chatting and joking again as if nothing had happened. Their amicable mood disappeared however when they arrived in Transfiguration class and Rowlett asked for their homework. When Rick declared he did not have it, she completely lost it.

"You incorrigible, ungrateful boy," she started. "Do you not see the opportunity presented to you? I am trying to teach you one of the most difficult branches of magic and all you can do is fool around. Do you not understand what a privilege it is for a wizard to study here at Hogwarts, especially one with your background?" Rick looked up, surprised that she knew about his background and a little annoyed that she had just hinted at it in front of the entire class.

"Why do I even bother teaching you if you're not prepared to put in the work or is it your ambition in life to end up as an incompetent, unemployed, moronic failure. Because that is exactly what you'll become if you do not pay attention and do not learn your lessons!" Rick could not tell what made him do it, perhaps it was the still raw emotions from last night or he was overcome by the urge to prove everyone wrong but before he stopped to think it was a very bad idea, he had drawn his wand and fired the first spell he could think of at Rowlett.

"Incendio!" He bellowed. Several students shrieked in fright as a huge burst of flames sprung out of the tip of his wand. It missed Rowlett by an inch, which had exactly been Rick's intention. He did not want to see her hurt, he only wanted to show her that he was not incompetent or stupid. Rowlett, however, obviously did not see it that way. For a second, she looked completely bewildered, clearly never having expected such a reaction but she quickly recovered. Her nostrils flared and her eyes looked like they were going to pop out in suppressed rage. The class was quiet now, no one dared utter a sound.

"Come, O'Connell." Professor Rowlett commanded, her voice trembling with anger. "Lewis, you're in charge." She said as she marched to the door. Lewis looked as white as a sheet and stared, like the rest of the class, at Rick as he followed professor Rowlett out. He wondered what she meant to do to him. Would she curse him within an inch of his life or just kill him and hide the body? They marched through corridor after corridor. It didn't take Rick long before he didn't know anymore where they were. Rowlett stopped before a stone gargoyle.

"Screechsnap." She said and Rick wondered briefly what that meant until he realised it must be a password because the gargoyle moved to reveal a staircase behind it. Wordlessly, they stepped on the stairs and it spiralled upwards like an elevator until they reached a gleaming oak door with a large brass knocker.

"Wait here." Rowlett said as she knocked and entered. Rick did as he was told, wondering where she had led him to. He tried to listen to the voices coming from inside but he could not make out any words. After a minute or two, Rowlett came out again and without as much as a glance at Rick, she marched down the stairs again. Rick wondered if he was meant to follow her until a voice bade him to enter. He obeyed and as soon as he stepped inside, Rick realised he was in the Headmaster's office. It was a large, circular office – they must be in one of the many towers or turrets – and the first thing Rick noticed was that every table, stand and even a couple of chairs were packed with potted plants and flowers of all kinds, making the office look very crowded and more like a greenhouse than an office. The walls were covered with portraits of different witches and wizards, all quite old and Rick realized these must be former headmasters and -mistresses. Professor Aldebourne was sitting behind his desk, patiently waiting for Rick to take a seat.

"Good morning, Mr. O'Connell. Please, take a seat." He greeted Rick and motioned the chair in front of his desk. "I hear you gave professor Rowlett quite a scare in class just now." Rick didn't reply. "May I ask what caused you to act out like that?" Professor Aldebourne spoke serenely, without any trace of an accusation.

"She said I'd never amount to anything, that I was a loser."

"Professor Rowlett has never been known for her amiability-" The headmaster began.

"Then why is she teaching here?" Rick blurted out.

"Professor Rowlett is a very talented witch and a gifted Transfigurer." Aldebourne continued undeterred. "We are lucky to have someone like her." He spoke in a soft authoritative manner as if he was kindly explaining something but would not tolerate any disagreement. Rick could not help but feel respectful towards him. "As I was saying, professor Rowlett may not always be the most cordial of teachers but I find it hard to believe she outright called you a 'loser'. She is a very dedicated teacher who always strives to get the best out of her students. Perhaps she simply suggested that your future may not look as bright if you were not to succeed in school or am I mistaken?" Rick kept quiet as he realized professor Aldebourne was right.

"Now, I cannot tolerate that a student attacks a professor simply because of a difference of opinion."

"I didn't attack her." Rick interrupted.

"Oh?"

"I simply wanted to show her that I wasn't incompetent. I wasn't aiming for her." He explained.

"I'm sure professor Rowlett will be pleased to hear it." Aldebourne answered. "But there will still be consequences for your actions, I hope you understand that." Rick nodded reluctantly. Aldebourne leant back in his chair. "I'm actually glad we have this chance to chat." Rick raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I wanted to talk to you about your work ethic." The headmaster said. For a moment, Rick was surprised Aldebourne knew about that but he assumed Rowlett informed him, to make Rick look even worse. "Do you have anything to say on the matter?" Aldebourne asked politely but Rick didn't reply. How was he to explain it?

"Do you have trouble understanding the matter?" The headmaster tried.

"No." Rick answered.

"Then what is the problem?"

"I don't see the point." He replied. Aldebourne raised his eyebrows.

"The point is to learn." He said as if it was obvious.

"I don't learn from reading books and writing papers, I learn from doing actual magic." Rick tried to explain. Aldebourne nodded.

"That may be so but not all aspects of magic have to do with spellcasting. Take Potions and Magical Theory and Herbology, learning about these subjects will help you become a more accomplished wizard and the best way to study them is through research. Every year, new discoveries are made about magic, they even have a whole department devoted to the study of magic at the ministry, so reading and studying the theoretic side of magic is necessary." Aldebourne argued. "I hope you can understand that?" Rick nodded reluctantly.

"Can I trust you will strive to do better from now on?" The headmaster pressed on.

"I'll try." Was all Rick could manage to say, though he didn't have a clue how he was going to do it. It was so hard to keep his mind on his essay when the subject matter didn't interest him and there were so many distractions around.

"Good." Aldebourne said. "And then perhaps your peers will begin to respect you when you're not losing Gryffindor points." Rick looked at him non-plussed. "Professor Harewell expressed her concern that you weren't fitting in well. She was worried about you in light of your family situation." The headmaster explained.

"My family situation?" Rick replied, a bit flustered to learn that the headmaster seemed to know this much about him.

"The death of a parent, let alone two at such a young age must be tough."

"You don't know anything!" Rick shouted, anger flaring up again and forgetting who he was talking to. What did Aldebourne know of the nightmares he suffered? What did he know of the abuse, the isolation and near starvation he had to endure back in Coakley? Tough, he said? It had been hell. Oddly, despite Rick's outburst, Aldebourne remained quiet and regarded him until Rick had calmed down somewhat.

"Perhaps not." He said compassionately. "But try to think of Gryffindor as your chance to build a new family, friends with whom you live and share your pain."

"I have friends." Rick replied curtly.

"Yes, Rigel Bailey and Theresa Thompson if memory serves me. How do they feel about you losing Gryffindor points because of your behaviour?" Rick shrugged. "You ought to be careful not to lose them because of it, friends are the most valuable gift a person can have and at the moment, you're doing a very good job of chasing all possible candidates away." Rick didn't reply. Aldebourne had a point, though he was loathe to admit it. The headmaster sighed. "Class will almost be over by now so I suggest you head to lunch and think about what I said. Professor Rowlett will let you know what your punishment will be." Rick nodded in understanding and headed for the door. "Oh and Mr. O'Connell? Do try and refrain from burning our teachers, will you? They are hard to come by." Aldebourne added with a smile.

"Yes, professor."

The whole affair got Rick another uncomfortable conversation with Griffiths, fifty points deducted from Gryffindor from professor Rowlett and a whole week's worth of detention. Rowlett had given also him another opportunity to finish his essay by next class and a warning that it would be another fifty points if he failed to hand it in again. The altercation with Rowlett had other unpleasant consequences as well. It did not remain a secret that Rick had attacked professor Rowlett and by supper, not only the Gryffindors, but also the students of other houses avoided him or stared at him like he was some sort of criminal. Worst of it was that Rigel and Terri were acting very cool towards him and that bothered him more than he cared to admit. True, he had been avoiding them as of late, after they'd expressed their discontent with him not doing homework but they'd still had fun if they didn't have to do homework. Without them, it was like being back in Coakley where no one liked him and he was actually glad to go to detention every evening, if only to get away from all the glares. The hours he spent writing lines for Rowlett gave Rick a lot of time to think about what Aldebourne had said and he came to the conclusion that he couldn't continue like he had or he'd spent every evening of his school life in detention. He resolved to start by writing at least something for Rowlett to hand in by Friday but she kept him long every evening and when he was finally able to return to the common room, he was too tired and his hand was too cramped up to write anything. Wednesday she let him go a little earlier but when he returned to the common room, there was a party going on. Gryffindor's quidditch team captain Sean Dobbs had picked that evening to introduce his new players for the year and they were making quite the party of it. It was useless to try and write something down with that much noise going on. Thursday evening, when Rick returned from detention, he couldn't postpone any longer so he sat down at one of the tables, determined to write something down. He leafed through a copy of _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_ for inspiration but the chatter in the common room was incredibly distracting and he had to reread every sentence at least thrice before he understood what it meant. Hour by hour, the common room emptied until Rick was alone. His eyes were itching from fatigue and the diagrams in his book were giving him a headache. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, trying to block out the pounding in his head.

He awoke from someone shaking his shoulder and through blurry eyes, Rick could just make out the form of Cedric.

"Rick, we need to get going to Magical Theory." He said and Rick shot upright in his chair. He'd fallen asleep trying to do his homework. He looked down at his parchment which only contained the title and a few notes jotted down here and there and knew Rowlett would never accept it. His heart sank, he'd failed.

"Are you ok?" The nerdy boy asked, sounding concerned. Rick had almost forgotten he was still standing there.

"Not really." Rick replied, banging his fist on the table in frustration before standing to collect his books. He tried to think what he would say to professor Rowlett and couldn't focus on what professor Tuft was trying to teach them. Rigel and Terri must have known something was bothering him because they kept throwing him worried glances. He avoided their gazes, feeling too guilty to meet their eyes. Why hadn't he just gotten started on that paper earlier in the week? Why did he have to postpone it? When the time eventually came for his Transfiguration class, Rick's nerves reached an all-time high and he had only just entered the classroom when she addressed him.

"O'Connell."

"Professor, I-" Rick tried to explain but Rowlett interrupted him.

"I am pleased to receive your essay. Good work." Rick stared at her with open mouth, he couldn't figure out what to say. In Rowlett's hand was a piece of parchment with what appeared to be an essay and on top of it he could clearly make out his name.

126


	9. Duel at Midnight

DUEL AT MIDNIGHT

Chapter NINE

Duel at Midnight

The following weeks passed by a lot more pleasant for Rick. Rigel and Terri began to act normal again – he hadn't mentioned to them he didn't make the homework himself, he didn't think they would be thrilled to hear it. First, he'd thought it had been a one-time thing but as it turned out, more essays turned up each class with Rick's name on them. He had yet to figure out who was behind it and why but to be honest, he was not that eager to know. As long as he or she kept it up, Rick did not get detention and he was as free as a bird after classes. The free time came in handy for his new after-school activity in the abandoned classroom and soon, he had not only mastered the Incendio spell, but also the Alohomora spell, a spell to open locks, the Severing charm, used to cut something and the Reparo spell, that was used to fix things. Before he knew it, almost two months had passed since he started his Hogwarts adventure and life at Hogwarts was improving. Classes were getting a lot more interesting as they were starting to get past all the theoretical stuff and were beginning to actually practise the spells and incantations. Rick excelled at this of course, already having practised the spells alone, and at last he actually started earning Gryffindor points instead of just costing them. To Rick's delight, Cedric, the know-it-all, wasn't as good as casting spells as he was at reading about them. Even after dozens of tries, the nerdy boy still couldn't properly cast a fire spell and Rick took pleasure in showing off how good he could cast the spell without having studied it in a book. Even Terri and Rigel were impressed but when they asked him how he got to be so good, Rick evaded their question.

"Just talent, I guess." He replied. He still hadn't told them about the abandoned classroom and frankly, he was a bit reluctant to do so. The room was his discovery and it had become somewhat of a refuge. There, he could get away from doing homework and from pesky housemates like Cedric, who had taken to seeking out Rigel and Terri's company more and more often. Rick frequently found the three of them sitting together at one of the tables in the common room doing homework when he came back from practise. It did not stop there either, the obnoxious boy would wait for them in the morning to accompany them to the Great Hall for breakfast and walked back with them to the common room after supper. He would even sit with them in the breaks between classes and at lunch. Rick couldn't say why but he did not really like Cedric all that much, the boy had a way of getting on his nerves the way he always knew better and constantly tried to get Rick to join them in doing homework together, which Rick always declined. For the most part, Rick tolerated the other boy's presence but he was starting to tire of him. One evening, after a particularly bad night filled with dreams about his mother's murder and then a day with both a Potions class and a period History of Magic, Cedric chose the wrong time to start talking to him. They were in the common room, sitting at one of the many small tables. Terri, Cedric and Rigel were writing their essay for professor Creedon while Rick was bouncing a ball he'd transfigured in class off the wall.

"Are you not going to join us, Rick?" Cedric asked as Rick handily caught the ball again. He rolled his eyes.

"No." He replied bored, aiming the ball for the same spot on the wall it had hit before.

"Really, it's easier if we do it together. It's not that difficult, I'll explain it for you." Cedric persisted.

"Don't." Rick tried to intervene but Cedric was undeterred.

"Uric the Oddball thought he was dead because back then, the Augurey was thought to be an omen of death. Now, of course, everyone knows that's not the case but that was only discovered-"

"Listen up, four-eyes." Rick growled. He was fed up with Cedric's meddling. "I don't want or need your advice so sod off."

"I didn't mean to-" Cedric back paddled.

"Yes, you did." Rick stopped him. "Just because you are a nerd who's read every bloody book in the library, does not mean I am one. If I don't do my homework right now, that's my business and I don't need you to act all superior because you're a prissy sod who sucks up to teachers every chance he gets." Rick's tirade had drawn the attention of nearby Gryffindors. He could see Cedric's reddening cheeks and teary eyes but he did not care. He didn't need anyone telling him what to do, especially a geeky little boy. "And another thing, stop following us around, won't you? I thought Gryffindor was the house of the brave, not cowards who hide behind others because they're afraid Mordaunt and his friends will come after them again. Instead of spending all of your time with your nose in a book, you might try actually casting a spell to fight the sodding Slytherin off."

"That's enough." Terri intervened. "Cedric..." she tried to comfort the boy but before she could say anything more, Cedric turned around and ran up the stairs to the dormitory. "Cedric!" She ran after him but he'd already disappeared into the boys' dormitory.

"Not cool, mate." Rigel told him.

"Oh, don't start." Rick replied. "Tell me his constant hovering and lecturing didn't bother you as well?" He asked.

"It wasn't as bad as you make it out to be." Said Rigel. "He was quiet most of the time and he was a great help with homework, which you would know if you had bothered to get to know him." Before Rick had time to respond, Terri came back looking angry.

"Why do you do that?" She asked.

"Do what?" Rick replied.

"Chase the people away who are trying to help you." Terri explained. "He was just trying to be your friend."

"I don't need him to be my friend." Rick stated.

"You might want to rethink that because at the rate you're going, it won't take long before you don't have any friends." And with that, she grabbed her books and essay and stalked off.

"What's got her knickers in a twist?" Rick asked.

"Probably your sparkling personality." Rigel answered sarcastically. "But she's got a point."

"Don't you start as well." Rick warned him.

"I'm sorry, Rick but Terri's right, you can't keep acting like this or you're going to chase away all your friends."

"What, you as well?" Rick asked. Rigel didn't reply, and it annoyed Rick to think that his best friend would chose Terri and a nerd over him. "Well, fine. I'm used to doing things by myself, I don't need you or anyone." He said angrily. Rigel wasn't impressed.

"You don't mean that." He replied calmly but seeing as Rick was in no mood to talk, he let it rest. "Well, no use trying to finish this essay without Cedric so I think I'm going to bed." He grabbed his things and left Rick alone to contemplate the matter.

They did not see Cedric in Transfiguration class the following day, in fact, they did not see him all day. He did not show up for classes and Rick figured he was either still crying his eyes out somewhere or hiding out in the library. Still mad at him for lashing out against Cedric, Terri wasn't speaking to Rick, except to rebuke him. Rigel stuck with him, trying to mediate between them, though he made it clear he did not condone Rick's behaviour. After some time to calm down and a good night's sleep, Rick realized his friends were right but he wasn't prepared to admit that yet, he was still enjoying the peace and quiet that came with Cedric's absence. Cedric returned to class the next day, claiming he'd been ill and had to spend a day in the infirmary. He was his usual know-it-all self in class but despite Terri's attempts at kindness, he kept his distance from the three friends.

"We should sit with him." Terri said that evening in the common room. The three of them were sitting at table, Terri and Rigel finishing up the essay for professor Creedon while Rick was doodling on a piece of parchment. Rick followed Terri's gaze across the room where Cedric was sitting at a table, scribbling away like his life depended on it.

"Why? He's fine over there, he's busy." Rick replied but she threw him a crushing look that quickly shut him up.

"An apology would be appropriate." She said coldly.

"Sorry?" Rick said, not really sure what he was apologizing for.

"Not to me, to him!" Terri said exasperated. "Idiot." Shaking her head, she grabbed her books and quill and went over to sit with Cedric. Rick huffed.

"Girls."

Only in flying class the following Tuesday afternoon did Terri let up a little. By now, they were allowed to do more than just hover and they were learning how to bank. The bad thing about that was that everyone kept crashing into one another and you had to keep your eyes open. The good thing was that all the little accidents kept professor Shaw plenty busy and Rick, Rigel and Terri embraced the opportunity to race each other across the lawn. They were having so much fun, Terri even forgot to be mad at Rick.

"That was some excellent flying there, you three." Professor Shaw said to them after class as they handed over their broomsticks. "You told me you want to try out next year, what position would you like to play?" As Rigel happily engaged in a discussion with Shaw whether it would be wiser for him to try out as a chaser or as a beater, Rick smirked when he caught Mordaunt glaring at them in envy. By the time they finished talking quidditch with professor Shaw, everyone had left and the three friends - Terri had seemingly forgiven him after their bit of fun - walked back to the castle, still dreaming out loud about making the team. They got as far as the corridor off the main hall before a familiar voice stopped them in their tracks.

"Found yourself a new protector, did you?" The sneer in the voice was quite familiar and Rick wondered who Mordaunt was tormenting now.

"Leave him alone, Mordaunt." It was unmistakably Lewis's voice.

"How dare you even speak to us, you mudblood?" Martin Rydell, Mordaunt's friend crony replied. "We should teach her a lesson, Livius, curse her so that she can't open her mouth." Rydell snickered at his own suggestion.

"Leave her alone." Rick, Rigel and Terri looked at each other. That was Cedric's voice. They hurried around the corner and came face to face with about five Slytherin boys cornering Lewis, Cedric and Frank McCallum. Mordaunt seemed surprised to see them but it quickly turned to annoyance.

"Coming to the rescue again, O'Connell?" He sneered.

"You know me Mordaunt, any reason to kick your ass is good enough for me." Rick countered, feeling confident. If Mordaunt or Rydell tried anything, at least he was able to defend himself with magic now.

"Insolent worm." Another boy, a bit bigger than Mordaunt, replied.

"No need for name-calling." Rick admonished with a grin. He grabbed his wand tightly in the pocket of his robes, anticipating the moment to defend himself.

"Enough of this." Rydell intervened. He pointed his wand at Rick and yelled "Locomotor Mortis!" Rick dodged the curse, aimed his own wand at the Slytherins and shouted the first spell he could think of.

"Incendio!" The familiar huge burst of flames sprout forward from the tip of his wand and made his opponents scatter. Lewis shrieked as the flames caught her robes and she vigorously stomped out the fire.

"Enough!" A voice bellowed through the corridor, followed by its owner, Professor Griffiths. "Duelling in the corridors is strictly forbidden." He said.

"O'Connell tried to curse me, professor." Rydell exclaimed.

"Really?" Griffiths replied. "I imagine that was a response to the curse you sent bounding through the corridor and that nearly hit me?" Rick marvelled at the stunned look on Rydell's face. Clearly, he had not expected it to come back to him.

"Twenty points from Slytherin, Mr. Rydell, and don't let me catch you doing it again. Now run along before I change my mind and give you detention." The Slytherins quickly made themselves scarce as Griffiths turned to Rick, who braced himself for the coming reprimand.

"That was quite an impressive spell, O'Connell." For a moment, Rick was flabbergasted. "But try and keep it in the classroom, would you?" Griffiths said with a wink before walking away. Rick could just mutter a "Yes, professor." before Griffiths was completely out of earshot.

"I can't believe you got away with that!" Rigel exclaimed as he clapped Rick on the shoulder.

"Me neither." Lewis uttered, noticeably less enthused than Rigel. "You set fire to my robes, O'Connell! What were you thinking?"

"That a thank you would be nice." Rick replied.

"You could have seriously injured me, you oaf!"

"Yes, and if I hadn't done something, Mordaunt surely would have."

"You don't know that. He was just being his annoying self, calling us names and uttering empty threats. You were the one who taunted him until he reverted to curses."

"You just cannot stand the fact that I just saved you just now." Rick said smugly. He was rather enjoying seeing Lewis so riled up.

"Oh, please, don't start pretending you're a hero all of a sudden." Lewis sneered and with that statement, she stalked off with McCallum in her wake.

"You're welcome!" Rick yelled after her. Now alone in the corridor, Rigel turned to Cedric.

"Are you okay?" He asked. Cedric adjusted his glasses and smoothened out his robes.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thanks for saving me from Mordaunt." The nerdy boy replied. "Again." He added with a pitiful chuckle.

"Not to worry, what are friends for?" Rigel replied.

"Friends?" Cedric repeated with a glance at Rick. Rick felt Rigel and Terri stare at him expectantly and he began to feel a little guilty about his outburst against Cedric. He knew exactly what it was like to be called a freak and to be harassed by a group of hateful boys and now he'd caused the same to happen to Cedric and for what? Because the boy irked him?

"Yeah, why not." Rick said and Cedric smiled.

"Thanks, Rick."

"And I'm sorry about what I said." Rick continued. "You caught me on a bad day, I didn't mean what I said."

"Apology accepted but you were right, I am kind of nerdy and I know I'm not really Gryffindor material." Cedric replied dejectedly.

"Nonsense." Rick replied. "The sorting hat sorted you into Gryffindor for a reason, you belong with us. Now come on, genius, let's go eat." He clapped Cedric on the shoulder and led the way to the Great Hall.

From that moment on, Cedric became their friend and once he got the know the boy a little bit better, Rick was pleasantly surprised that he wasn't as bad as he'd expected. Cedric knew quite a lot and despite his goody-good appearance, he was not averse to a joke now and then. For his part, Cedric stopped annoying Rick with pleas to do homework together and he even agreed to put his books aside once and a while to play a game of Gobstones with them. With Rick, Rigel and Terri as his friends, Cedric was no longer the chosen victim of the Slytherins but Rick was convinced Mordaunt and his gang would not let slide the humiliation they suffered because of him. He was on guard the next few days, waiting for something to happen but other than some nasty glares, nothing did. They had two classes on Friday with the Slytherins and not once did Mordaunt make an attempt to take revenge for his hurt pride so Rick put the thought out of his head, especially since it was Halloween and he had other things to look forward to. There was to be a feast on Hallow Eve and the castle was already being decorated for the occasion. Grille was already levitating his enormous pumpkins the size of small cars through the Entrance Hall when they returned from breakfast.

"Blimey, if that's the size of the pumpkins, I wonder how big the bats are going to be." Rigel said, grinning at Terri. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Shut up." The boys laughed, they knew Terri didn't like bats.

"As long as there's no troll, I'm happy." Cedric said.

"There's not going to be a troll, Cedric." Rick said rolling his eyes at Cedric's worry. Crusher, Doolan and Hurst had tried to make them believe the teachers always set loose a troll to make the feast properly scary but they were fairly sure the older boys were only joking.

"Trust me, Cedric, the only trolls who are going to be present tonight are Zayne and Trevill." Rigel said with a dark look at said two boys as they headed for the dungeons. Zayne and Trevill were Atia Rydell's cronies and they usually went around bullying other students, often muggleborns. Just last week, they'd gotten a hold of Frank McCallum and petrified him in a corridor. Poor Frank had lain there for more than an hour before someone found him and lifted the curse. Letting Zayne and Trevill pass from their minds, the four friends spent the rest of the day enjoying the peace and quiet of the common room, which was unusually empty.

"Where is everyone?" Rick wondered as he moved his bishop forward to take Rigel's tower.

"It's Halloween. Every student in third year and up is in Hogsmeade." Rigel replied as he moved his knight to take Rick's bishop.

"Hogsmeade?" Rick inquired.

"The nearby village, the only one in Britain that's completely magical." Cedric explained, looking up from his book. "That's partly why it was so popular as a headquarters for wizards and witches during the goblin rebellions. That way, they did not have to worry about muggles seeing-"

"Thank you, Cedric." Rigel stopped him before he really got going. "It's a village where teachers and students in third year and up go to get away from school and have some fun." He explained. "A shame we don't get to go yet, I'd love to visit Zonko's."

"Zonko's?" Rick asked again.

"The joke shop." Rigel explained. "You can find everything there from dungbombs to Filibuster fireworks."

"That is a shame." Terri jumped in. "I could do with replenishing my dungbomb supply."

"Checkmate." Rigel exclaimed gleefully as he moved his tower.

"Not again." Rick complained. It was the fifth time in a row Rigel had beaten him. "I'm rubbish at this game."

They were in for a bit of a surprised that evening. Grille's enormous pumpkins had all been carved out to look properly scary and were charmed to hover above the students' heads as they ate. They served as excellent hiding places for the hundreds of bats that had been conjured for the occasion – Terri did not feel comfortable about that and kept looking up to see if they didn't come closer. The house tables were decorated as well, with loads of fake spiders and spiderwebs strewn everywhere for a properly scary dinner. They hadn't had such an elaborate dinner since the night they arrived and Rick made the most of it, stuffing himself. That wasn't the best idea he soon learned as he nearly lost his stomach content not much later when, after dinner, the ghosts re-enacted the beheading of Nearly Headless Nick. They were having loads of fun trying to scare each other and were almost sad when Aldebourne announced it was time for bed. They were just getting ready to leave when an uninvited guest turned up at the Gryffindor table.

"Enjoyed the feast, did you?" Mordaunt sneered hatefully as he passed their table. He must have made a detour just to talk to them.

"Well we were, until you lot came along." Rigel replied, looking warily at Mordaunt and his cousins, Martin Rydell and Zacharias Mordaunt, who were accompanying him.

"Funny, Bailey. If your spellwork was as quick as your wit, you might just be able to outdo that ridiculous cousin of yours." Mordaunt raised his arm in a hatefully imitation of Regina. "Ooh, pick me professor, I know the answer." The other Slytherins laughed as Rigel's cheeks reddened.

"And if your humour was only half as good as ours, you'd actually be funny." Rick countered, making Terri, Cedric and Rigel laugh. Mordaunt fumed.

"You think you're so clever, don't you? Getting away with trying to burn us alive. Next time Griffiths will not be there to save you. I'd like to see you beat us then."

"What are you on about?" Rick asked.

"A duel, O'Connell. I challenge you to a wizarding duel tonight in the Trophy Room in one hour. Or are you too much of a coward?" Mordaunt challenged. Rick didn't hesitate. He wasn't scared of the Slytherin and this might be his opportunity to shut the boy up for once and for all.

"I'll be there." He assured him and Mordaunt left with a smirk, his mates in tow.

"Are you insane, O'Connell?" Lewis said snappily from across the table. Apparently, she'd been listening in on them. "It's forbidden to roam the school at night. If you get caught, Gryffindor will lose points again."

"Then I must make sure not to get caught, mustn't I?" Rick told her smugly.

"I should report you to professor Griffiths." She threatened.

"And then I'll surely get caught and lose points. Is that what you want, Lewis?" Rick asked her, already knowing the answer. Lewis bit her lip in hesitation.

"Come on, Sam, let's go." One of her friends called her as they got up to leave. Reluctantly, she obliged.

"Don't do it." She warned Rick a last time before she left.

"Perhaps Sam has a point, maybe we should forget about this duel?" Cedric suggested.

"Are you kidding?" Rick replied. "This is our chance of putting Mordaunt in his place. Besides, we've already said we would be there, he'd never let us live it down if we chickened out."

"Rick's right, we have to go." Rigel agreed.

"I'm in." Terri confirmed.

"Well, I… it's getting quite late and I'm kind of tired and-"

"Cedric, if you don't want to go, just say so." Terri said.

"I don't want to go." Cedric said flatly.

"You head back for the common room then, we'll deal with this." Rick told him. Cedric agreed and left with the other Gryffindor boys while Rick, Rigel and Terri lingered in the Great Hall under the guise of enjoying the last deserts until most students had left. They joined up with a last group of Ravenclaw students who headed up the stairs to their common room but instead of following them up the stairs, the threesome split off on the third floor. From there, they reached the trophy room a little before midnight without trouble. It was empty when they entered it.

"Mordaunt isn't here yet." Rick whispered to his two friends.

"If he gets here, what do we do?" Terri asked.

"We have a duel." Rigel explained. "You bow to your opponent and then hit him with everything you've got." Rick nodded, got out his wand and waited. Some time later, there was still no sign of Mordaunt and Rick checked Rigel's watch. Almost half an hour had passed, where was he? Rick told himself he would be here any moment and he kept his gaze firmly on the door, just in case Mordaunt came barging in and started shooting curses right off the bat. Another ten minutes passed.

"He's late." Rick remarked.

"Perhaps he had to dodge a professor? Or Peeves?" Rigel suggested.

"I'm getting a bad feeling about this." Terri said. "What if Cedric and Lewis were right? If we stay here much longer, we'll get caught for sure."

"Sshh, someone's coming." Rick shushed her, listening to the approaching footsteps. The door of the trophy room opened but it was not Mordaunt who entered. From the light of her wand, Rick could clearly distinguish the features of Madame Whifferdill. Immediately, Rick felt someone grab his sleeve and pull him into the wall behind a row of shelves covered with trophies. It was not a minute too soon because Whifferdill raised her wand to try and see who else was in the room. Rigel was next to him and Rick could make out that Terri had managed to hide behind some shelves on the opposite wall. They could not stay there, Whifferdill would surely discover them sooner or later. Rick looked around for an escape and felt a rush of relief when he saw another door near the back to the room. He indicated it to Rigel. Together, they pointed it out to Terri, who nodded in understanding.

"I know you're here, come out where I can see you." Whifferdill said and for a moment, Rick thought she had spotted them but thankfully, she moved to another corner. Rick held up three fingers and counted down. All at once, the three friends dashed towards the door, yanked it open and sprinted down the corridor.

"Stop!" Whifferdill yelled but Rick, Rigel and Terri kept running. They were nearing the end of the corridor and Rick knew that if they could reach the staircase, they would have a better chance at losing Whifferdill and make it back to the common room without getting caught. Just then, Rick felt his legs snap together of their own accord and he crashed to the floor. Apparently, he and Rigel weren't the only ones who knew how to perform a leg-locker curse. Seconds later, Madame Whifferdill stood over him, slightly out of breath and her wand pointed at him.

"Got you." She said. Rick looked behind him and saw Rigel and Terri on the floor in the same predicament he was. Rick's heart sank. "Come on, we're going to see professor Griffiths and he can decide your punishment for being out after hours." Rick felt a bit relieved at hearing that. Griffiths was their head of house and he always favoured his students so Rick had high hopes they wouldn't get punished too severely. Madame Whifferdill marched them to professor Griffiths' office and knocked on the door. The professor was still up and very surprised by the late visit.

"What is this?" He asked as he took in Madame Whifferdill and three of his students at his door after midnight.

"These students were caught out of bed, professor." Whifferdill replied. "Since they are of your house, I thought I'd bring them to you."

"I see." Griffiths replied. "What were you doing out of bed?" He asked the three friends. No one answered, realizing that telling Griffiths and Whifferdill about the duel would only get them into more trouble than they already were. Griffiths didn't wait long for an answer, seemingly aiming to quickly rid himself of this business. "I guess I will have to deduct points for this. Ten points each." As Rick had expected, it wasn't the most severe punishment and Madame Whifferdill apparently thought the same. She cleared her throat.

"Professor, these students have broken the rules before and I do not believe ten points will suffice this time." She said sternly. Griffiths didn't look pleased. They all knew Griffiths was loath to deduct too many points from his own house but he couldn't favour his house so openly in front of Whifferdill.

"Very well." Griffiths conceded. "Thirty points each and detention on Friday. Now, if you would, Madame Whifferdill, please escort these students back to their common room." Griffiths said before Whifferdill could protest again.

"I will, professor." Whifferdill answered serenely, a small smirk forming around her mouth at having achieved her goal.

Cedric was still waiting for them when they returned to the common room. He immediately knew something had gone wrong but to his credit, he didn't reproach them when they told him what happened. Exhausted, the four friends got into bed, dreading the following morning when the rest of the Gryffindors would find out what had happened and who was to blame for the nearly hundred points they lost.

142


	10. Murder in Hogsmeade

MURDER IN HOGSMEADE

Chapter ten

Murder in Hogsmeade

As expected, it didn't take the other Gryffindors long to figure out why they had lost almost a hundred points overnight and who was responsible for that. Already when they arrived in the Great hall for breakfast, the other Gryffindors were glaring at them and throwing hateful remarks at their heads. Rick had to bear the most of it as it wasn't the first time he'd cost their house points but Rigel and Terri too kept their heads down as they hurriedly made their way down the long house table to where Cedric was sitting.

"Good morning." Cedric greeted them with a sympathetic look.

"Nothing much good about it, it seems." Rigel replied as he sat down and starting scooping up breakfast, not daring to look at the other students at the table. "How did everyone figure it out so quickly?"

"Grapevine." Cedric explained. "Lewis came and told me this morning already." He nodded to the redheaded girl a couple of seats down the table looking at them with a look that swayed between 'I told you so' and 'you deserve it'. It did not make them any happier.

"I bet it was she who told on us to Whifferdill." Rick said darkly. "She overheard us talking to Mordaunt."

"Who, Lewis? I don't think she would do such a thing." Replied Cedric, assessing the redhead.

"You're just saying that because you like her." Rick teased him.

"She's just a friend." Cedric defended himself.

"Yeah, what was she doing with you then when Mordaunt attacked you after flying class?" Rick continued to tease. "And don't think I haven't seen you two huddled up in the common room every now and then."

"She was trying to protect me." Cedric explained, turning red. "And we like to discuss classes. Unlike you, she actually likes to discuss the first fundamental law of magic."

"Whatever you say, Cedric." Rick winked at his nerdy friend, enjoying getting a rise out of him. Cedric was always funny when you got him mad.

"She didn't do it." Terri interrupted the banter.

"How do you know?" Rick asked, turning more serious again.

"Because I already asked her this morning and she was quite offended I even considered it." Terri explained.

"Told you." Cedric told Rick, looking pleased with himself.

"Isn't it more likely Mordaunt betrayed us?" Terri said. "I bet he never intended to show up for the duel and told Whifferdill all about where she could find three young Gryffindors breaking the rules."

"It does sound like something he would do." Rigel said. Rick glanced over to the Slytherin table and saw Mordaunt laughing with his friends. Rigel and Terri were right, it would be the kind of thing Mordaunt would do and Rick silently vowed to get him back for it.

Their detention was to take place on Friday and Rick, Rigel and Terri spent the entire week coming up with plans to take revenge on Mordaunt, one idea more outrageous and impractical than the next. In the week that followed, the three friends continued to suffer the abuse of their housemates. Whenever they passed another Gryffindor in the corridor, they would try to make them trip up, glower at them or complain loudly about pesky first years who cost them their hard earned points. Anderson even tipped over Rick's cup of pumpkin juice at dinner one evening and even though he claimed it had been an accident, he didn't look too sorry about it and Rick was quite sure he'd done it on purpose. In the common room and dormitory, the atmosphere was equally hostile. Anderson, Sanders and McCallum, who had previously always been friendly with Rigel, now wouldn't speak to him and they frowned on Cedric being friendly to him or Rick. The result was that Terri, Rigel and Rick didn't mind having to leave the common room on Friday for their detention.

About a quarter to five, the three friends were standing in front of Griffiths's office but when he opened the door, they found the professor was not alone. There was an older Slytherin boy present, wearing a badge with the letter H on it.

"Ah, you're here." Griffiths said. He was wearing his travelling cloak. "This is Mr. Garron, our head boy." He said indicating the older Slytherin boy. The three friends regarded the Slytherin apprehensively. "He will be overseeing your detention tonight." The professor said and he joined them in the corridor.

"Are you going somewhere, professor?" Rigel asked.

"As a matter of fact, I have some business to attend in Hogsmeade." Griffiths replied. "Don't worry, Mr. Garron here will look after you just fine." He clapped said boy on the shoulder and left, leaving them alone with the Slytherin.

"O'Connell, Bailey and Thompson, is it?" The head boy asked and the three friends nodded. "Follow me." He instructed and reluctantly, Rick, Rigel and Terri followed the older boy through the corridor and down the stairs. They continued going down and it didn't take long for Rick to realise they were heading for the dungeons, more specifically, the Potions corridor. Garron stopped at the door of one of the dungeons and ushered the three first years in. They had never been here, the first years took classes in another dungeon, but this one looked pretty much like the one they used, except for the foul smell. It came, they soon discovered, from a large barrel near the front. As they neared it, Rick saw that the barrel was filled to the brim with slimy looking things.

"This barrel contains horned toads." Garron explained. "You will disembowel them using only this." He presented each of them with a small knife. "Pull up a stool around the barrel and get started, you won't finish until they're all done properly. Talking will not be allowed." The three friends did as they were told and got started. It was extremely gory and unpleasant work and Rick figured that Garron just gave them the most grossest thing to do that he could think of. While they worked, the Head Boy busied himself quietly reading, a book a couple feet away so he wouldn't be bothered by the smell.

"Why aren't we writing lines or something instead of doing this gory job for Selwyn?" Rick complained aloud after he had done a few toads.

" _Professor_ Selwyn." Garron corrected him . "I happened to know he had this job to do and thought I'd help him out with a few assistants." The head boy replied haughtily. "And I thought I said no talking?" Rick ignored him.

"Are you always such a brownnoser?" He taunted Garron.

"I will do anything and everything my superiors ask me to do." Garron replied unperturbed. "You have to be willing to suck up to a few people to get you where you want to go. Professors can put in a good word for you and help you launch your career. Something to remember next time you decide to break the rules again." The head boy replied with a pointed look at Rick.

"Whatever." Rick dismissed him. Garron put down his book and regarded him.

"You're a bit of a know-it-all, aren't you?" Rick chose not to answer the head boy. "Do you think your exploits at Hogwarts won't have an influence on your later career?" He pointed at Rick, the candle light catching on the rather large and gaudy ring on his finger. "You would do well to remember that it does and if you don't change your attitude and keep that big mouth of yours shut in the future, you'll have a hard time getting what you want or have a chance at a good job." Rick wanted to say that he could care less about a good job but cursed instead as he cut himself on the horns of one of the toads. It took a number of hours and several more cuts but eventually the barrel was empty and around midnight Rick, Terri and Rigel were finally allowed to head back to Gryffindor tower. Tired and aching, they headed straight for their beds and were asleep within minutes.

Saturday morning found the tired threesome walking into the Great hall late for breakfast. Cedric awaited them patiently.

"How did it go?" He asked.

"Disgusting." Terri replied. "Garron had us cleaning horned toads all night."

"Garron?" Cedric repeated confused. "I thought you said you had detention with Griffiths?"

"He had business to attend to in Hogsmeade he said, so he left us with a sodding Slytherin." Rigel explained a little cross.

"Garron's actually not that bad for a Slytherin." Cedric remarked.

"How do you know? He didn't make you peel toads all night." Rick replied annoyed.

"No, but at least he's not like Rydell or Mordaunt." Cedric said. "He actually told them off when they came after me once … you know …"

"When we weren't friend yet." Rick finished for him and Cedric nodded. "Well, that may be so but he seemed to take sick pleasure out of us working those toads." Rick muttered, refusing to concede to Cedric's defence of the head boy. Cedric opened his mouth to reply but he didn't get a chance as at that moment, the mail arrived. Rick had already grown accustomed to the hundreds of owls flying over their heads to deliver letters and packages each day and he had already grown accustomed not to expect any. Rigel, on the other hand, had a subscription to the Daily Prophet, the wizarding variant of the newspaper. He had only just paid the owl and unfolded the newspaper when he spit out the bite of cereal he had just eaten.

"What?!" Cedric, Rick and Terri asked in alarm.

"There's been a murder in Hogsmeade." Rigel exclaimed.

"What!?" Terri and Cedric exclaimed simultaneously.

"Here, read this." Rigel showed them the article on the front page. Terri took it, wincing at the stiffness in her arms as she did and read aloud.

 **Murder in Hogsmeade**

Alphard Doge, owner of 'Doge's Antiquities' in Hogsmeade, was found dead in his shop early this morning. Ministry Officials are investigating the matter but have made no arrests as of yet. Mrs. Doge, the victim's wife, reports that her husband was out last night. Upon hearing noise down in the shop, Mrs. Doge went downstairs to investigate, only to find Mr. Doge's lifeless body. Aurors are still investigating the circumstances of Mr. Doge's death but initial investigation leads them to believe they are dealing with a foiled robbery. Mr. Doge may possibly have walked in on a robbery in progress and may have died defending his property. Mr. Claudius Cormac, member of staff with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and investigating the case, ensures the public that the killer will be caught and brought to justice."

"Creepy." Rigel said. "Just imagine, the killer might still be around here. He might even be hiding in the Forbidden Forrest." Cedric paled.

"Please tell me that's a joke."

"Relax, Cedric. He's long gone." Terri assured him.

"Ah, but how can you be sure?" Rigel asked her, winking mischievously. Terri threw him an exasperated look.

"If I'd just killed a guy, I'd get as far away as I could." She said.

"Ah, unless he knows that's what you're thinking and he sticks around to fool you." Rick said, amused by the slightly panicked look on Cedric's face.

"Unless he knows that's what you're going to think and he gets away anyway to fool you." Rigel countered jokingly.

"Unless-" Rick joined in.

"Aright, alright, we get it, you can stop your silly game." Terri put an end to their banter.

"Still, I'd watch carefully, Cedric, the killer might be in our dormitory tonight." Rick teased.

"Ha, ha." Cedric replied dryly. "You have to admit, it is kind of worrisome though, isn't it?" He asked, serious now.

"Well, I for one won't let it bother me, I've got other things on my mind." Rigel said, smiling in anticipation. Rick and Terri knew exactly what he was talking about.

"What do you mean? What could be more serious than this?" Cedric asked, not understanding.

"Quidditch." Rigel replied as if it was obvious. Cedric rolled his eyes. "Today's the first game of the season, Gryffindor versus Slytherin and I for one, cannot wait to see how we're going to crush Slytherin."

"You do know Gryffindor hasn't won from Slytherin in like, four years, don't you." Cedric informed them.

"Today's going to be different, I can feel it in my bones." Rigel said confidently and Cedric stayed quiet, though he still looked preoccupied. Rick pretended not to notice. Like Rigel, he was very much looking forward to the game. He had never seen a quidditch match in his life but Rigel had told him about them and it sounded like fun. In the days leading up to the match, the animosity between the two houses had grown, Mordaunt's cousin Zacharias even had to be taken to the hospital wing after he tried to curse Gryffindor Chaser Nathalie Crane. The Slytherin hadn't counted on Nathalie being an excellent duellist, though. She'd cursed him so badly he had to spend a night in the infirmary to recover.

After breakfast, Rick, Rigel, Terri and Cedric hastily made their way to the quidditch pitch to get good seats. The whole school seemed to be present for the first game of the season and the stadium was packed. Everyone was excited about the first game of the season. Rick saw students carrying banners to support their teams and others with their faces painted red and gold, the colours of Gryffindor. It wasn't just the Gryffindors either, Rick saw several Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs carrying the red and gold lion banner of Gryffindor to show their support for the Gryffindor team against the Slytherins. The quidditch pitch was a large oval grass field with on the farthest opposite sides three large posts with hoops on them that served as goals. Around the pitch were a number of stands for the spectators. Rick, Rigel, Terri and Cedric were trying to find a good seat when they nearly bumped into Doolan, the fifth year Gryffindor.

"Oops, didn't see you there, little urchins." He saw Rick and smiled. "Ah, our fearless Gryffindor. Peeves been bothering you lately?" Rick was not inclined to dignify that question with an answer.

"What's that?" He asked instead and he indicated the piece of parchment Doolan was holding.

"Just taking down bets. Care to join in? Professor Griffiths just placed a bet for 10 galleons that Gryffindor wins. Slytherin's favourite so he should walk away with a nice profit if they lose." Doolan explained.

"Put me down for five galleons, would you?" Rigel said and he dug up five golden coins out of his pocket. Rick watched the exchange sourly and briefly wished he had that much money to spend.

"Doolan!" Rick and Rigel turned around to see Garron walking up to them. "I told you to quit taking down bets, especially off first years." Garron took the money out of Doolan's hand and shoved it back into Rigel's.

"If they want to earn some money, I'm not going to stop them, Garron." Doolan replied.

"Five points from Gryffindor then." Garron said and he snatched the parchment out of Doolan's hand. "Let's see who else you wheedled money out of." Rick, Rigel, Terri and Cedric took that as their cue to leave and quickly made their way through the crowd to some free seats on the second row.

"Bloody Garron, I could've made a nice profit." Rigel complained, stowing away his money again.

"You shouldn't squander money like that." Cedric admonished.

"It's my money, isn't it? I should be able to do with it as I please." Rigel replied. The discussion was interrupted by a magically amplified voice resonating over the quidditch pitch.

"Good morning Hogwarts! Welcome to the first game of the season!" A Hufflepuff boy sitting nearby was doing the commentary. "As tradition calls for, quidditch season is opened by Gryffindor versus Slytherin!" There were loud cheers from either side of the stadium.

"Without further ado, let's give a warm welcome to last year's winners of the Quidditch cup, the Slytherin house team led by Marcus Junger!" The Slytherin supporters cheered loudly as seven players dressed in green robes came flying seemingly out of nowhere. They circled the field, rallying up their supporters and about a hundred Slytherin supporters chanted 'SLYTHERIN' in their wake.

"Junger has kept most of last year's players, with only two new additions this year. Perhaps he hopes to get the quidditch cup again this way but he'll get fierce competition from the Gryffindor team!" From the opposite side of the field, seven figures dressed in red robes flew out onto the pitch. Although Rick did not know any of the players, he cheered loudly with the rest of the Gryffindor supporters.

"Beater Sean Dobbs makes his debut as team captain and has made a number of changes in his team which he hopes will get him that cup this year. Notable newcomer in the Gryffindor team is Dean Dobbs who will be playing Seeker. I'm sure everyone in Gryffindor is excited to see what he will bring to the team. It certainly promises to be a very exciting game, people!" Professor Shaw now stepped onto the pitch as well, carrying a large wooden crate. All eyes on him, he dropped the crate in the middle of the pitch and opened it. Immediately two black balls soared up into the sky.

"Those are the bludgers I told you about." Rigel informed Rick and he recalled that Bludgers were there to try and knock as many people off their brooms as possible. It was the beaters' task to keep their fellow team members safe from the raging two balls. Next, Shaw opened a smaller box which held a small golden ball. Rigel had told him about that too. That was the snitch. Each team's seeker had to try to catch the snitch before the other team's seeker did. Catching the snitch earned a team 150 points and ended the game. Shaw released the tiny golden ball and in a flash, it had disappeared. The team captains landed and shook hands before Shaw blew his whistle and fourteen players took up their positions. Another whistle and a big red ball known as the quaffle was released and the game had begun.

"Junger immediately takes possession of the quaffle. The Sytherin team captain is in top form this year. He tosses the quaffle to Frilleck. Frilleck passes it to Ballard. Ballard back to Frilleck. Frilleck takes a shot...SCORE! 10 points to Slytherin!" Rick had never seen a quidditch match but he did not need to be an expert to see that the Slytherin team was much better than the Gryffindor team. The Gryffindor chasers could barely hold their own. They seemed to lack unity and strategy. When Humphrey managed to intercept the quaffle from Ballard, the other two Gryffindor chasers were nowhere to be found for a pass, giving the Slytherin chasers ample opportunity to gang up on Humphrey to take back possession of the quaffle. When they did pass, it was slow going and the Slytherins had not trouble intercepting them before they made it anywhere near the goals. The Slytherin chasers, on the contrary, passed the quaffle around so quickly, it was hard to keep up. They easily broke through Gryffindor's defences and the Gryffindor keeper could only stop so many goals. Soon the score was 40-0 for Slytherin. The match continued in much the same way. Even though the Gryffindor chasers managed to score a few times, the Slytherin team doubled their efforts and made at least as many goals of their own. It got painful to watch and the Slytherin supporters began to laugh at the Gryffindor players, booing at them and calling them names. Rick just hoped the Gryffindor team would not be intimidated and bounce back to still win the game. All hopes were now focussed on the Gryffindor Seeker who could still turn the tide.

"Another goal for Sytherin! They now lead 100 to 40. The Gryffindor players really need to pick up the ... wait, is that the snitch?!" Everyone jumped up to look at the seekers who had engaged in a dive right near the left Slytherin goal post. The Slytherin seeker was closest but Dean Dobbs, Gryffindor's seeker, was hot on his tail.

"Burns gets closer, Dobbs still in pursuit. If Dobbs wants his team to win, now is his chance. He's closing in and is now right at Burns' tail... This game can still end either way people!" Rick and Rigel pounded the rails, shouting and urging Dobbs along but Burns was already reaching for the snitch. In desperation, Dobbs reached as well but he was still a foot behind Burns. "Both seekers try to grab the snitch... and he has it! Burns prevails and catches the snitch. Slytherin wins 250 to 40!" The Slytherin supporters broke out in loud cheers and yells and Rick saw Livius Mordaunt jumping up and down with joy. The Gryffindor supporters looked disappointed but none seemed to take it as bad as Rigel.

"I mean, what kind of play was that!?" He ranted as they were walking back to the castle. "A troll could play better than that! When Wallace got that last quaffle, he should have banked left and passed it to Crane. She was way better positioned to make the shot! Seriously, when I get on the team..."

"Let me guess." Terri said with just a hint of mockery. "You'll do _so_ much better."

"Yes!" Rigel replied indignantly.

"Wow, way to be modest, Bailey." Cedric teased.

"Don't make fun of me Carmichael, it isn't nice." Rigel mock-complained. "Besides, you've never seen me play. I like to think I'm at least as good a flyer as those clowns over there and at least I think about my play. You won't see me flying around like a headless chicken."

"It was only the first game." Terri tried to argue. "It doesn't mean we lost our chance for the cup. There are two more games against Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, aren't there? And by that time, I'm sure our players will have gotten better." Rick could see Rigel doubted that very much. A while off, he could see the Slytherins, Mordaunt in the thick of the crowd, still cheering and celebrating their victory.

"I hope you're right Terri, because I don't think I can cope with Mordaunt's smugness if Slytherin wins the cup." He replied.

The Slytherins carried their party down to the dungeons while the defeated Gryffindors trudged up the stairs to their dorm. Rigel, Terri and Rick automatically jumped over the sink step in the stairs, still discussing the game when Cedric's yell stopped them. For some reason, Cedric had missed the sink step and now had his right leg stuck in it. Rigel and Rick pulled him out.

"Thanks." Cedric said, glad to have solid footing again.

"Are you alright, Cedric? You seem kind of preoccupied?" Rick asked. It wasn't like Cedric to forget about these kind of things.

"I've just been thinking about Mr. Doge." He confessed.

"Who?" Rigel asked.

"The man who was murdered." Cedric replied, looking at Rigel, unbelieving he had forgotten about that so quickly.

"What about it?" Terri asked.

"Well, you said Griffiths was in Hogsmeade last night, didn't you?" Cedric said almost hesitantly.

"So?" Rick asked. "That doesn't mean he killed Doge."

"I know but isn't it a coincidence he had urgent business in Hogsmeade the same night Doge gets killed?" Cedric suggested. Terri, Rigel and Rick looked at each other.

"Yes." They replied in unison.

"Cedric, are you accusing a professor, our head of house of murder?" Rick asked incredulously. Cedric's face reddened.

"No." He said quickly as if even suggesting it was an offence. "I'm just saying it's a little weird and if he didn't have anything to do with it, maybe he saw something?" He tried to explain.

"Why don't you ask him about it?" Rick suggested.

"No way, it'll sound like I'm accusing him."

"Well, you are, aren't you?" Rigel pointed out.

"He doesn't need to know that." Cedric replied sheepishly.

"I doubt Griffiths had anything to do with the murder, Cedric. You can rest assured, he won't come and kill you in your sleep." Rick teased. He could see Cedric wasn't completely reassured about Griffiths' part in the murder but he didn't persist with his theory anymore.

155


	11. The Dragon Ring

THE DRAGON RING

Chapter eleven

The Dragon Ring

The following morning, Rick awoke from someone screaming. Jumping up to see what was going on, he saw Rigel sitting up in his bed shouting.

"It's here, it's here!"

"What is?" Rick asked, still sleepy but Rigel didn't reply, he was busy unwrapping a large package near the foot of his bed. The other boys in the dormitory watched intrigued as Rigel unveiled a broom. Even with his limited knowledge of brooms, Rick could tell this was a quality broom, in much better nick and probably quite a bit more expensive and better than the school brooms they used in class.

"Is that your broom?" Colin asked and he couldn't keep a hint of admiration and jealously out of his voice.

"Yes." Rigel replied proudly. "I sent an owl to my uncle to have it sent here and he did! Look!" Rigel caressed the beautifully polished handle and checked if there were any twigs out of place on the tail. "I take great care of it." He explained. "I used to polish it every day before I came to Hogwarts. It's the latest Cleansweep, naught to sixty in ten seconds."

"First years weren't allowed to have a broom." Sanders remarked hatefully. Rick too, vaguely remembered reading something like that on his school supplies list. Honestly, Rick didn't understand what the fuss was about but he knew Sanders and Anderson would like nothing more than to put Rigel and him in their place by telling a professor about it.

"What they don't know, can't hurt them, right?" Rigel appealed sheepishly to his dormmates. Anderson didn't look convinced.

"We _should_ report this to professor Griffiths, you know." He said with a pointed look at Rigel, who took the hint. You could hardly miss the look of longing on Anderson's face, he wanted to fly the Cleansweep as much as the rest of them, with the exception of Cedric perhaps.

"I'll let you fly it if you promise not to tell?" Rigel offered.

"OK." Anderson accepted without hesitation.

"Great." Rigel exclaimed. "Come on, we'll try it out after breakfast."

Rigel informed Terri of their plan over breakfast and she joined the boys outside in the cool morning air. Rather reluctantly, Rigel let Anderson, Sanders and McCallum try his Cleansweep first while the rest of them looked on. Anderson was a fair flyer, as was Sanders but McCallum was a complete disaster. Like Rick and Terri, he had never flown a broom before coming to Hogwarts but unlike them, he was terrible at it. McCallum could barely keep his broom straight and twice, he nearly crashed into a tree, nearly causing Rigel to have a fit. As it was, Rigel quickly and rather brusquely took his broom away from McCallum before he wrecked it. Finally, Anderson, Sanders and McCallum left so Rigel, Rick, Cedric and Terri could have a turn. Cedric went first. He had not been very keen on coming but Terri and Rigel had convinced him, saying it would be good for him to relax a bit and enjoy himself. They didn't tell him that Cedric riding a broom was far more entertaining to them than it was to Cedric. Poor Cedric was so scared he never dared go higher than three feet off the ground and after some minutes struggling to control the broom, Cedric gladly passed it off to Rick, who did not hesitate to take off. Rigel's broom was amazing, much faster and agile than the old brooms they used in flying class. Terri, Rick and Rigel kept passing the broom between them, each taking a turn flying until the sun set and it became too dark to see where they were flying and they were forced to head back to the common room.

"This was a bad idea. We shouldn't be out this late, it's forbidden. Someone could catch us." Cedric said panicky as they snuck back into the castle.

"Keep your voice down, genius, or we'll definitely get caught." Rick scolded.

"Keep your eyes and ears open." Rigel advised. "If anyone hears anything-"

"Shhh!" Rick shushed him. There were voices coming their way. The four friends scrambled to get away and Terri pointed to a broom cupboard where they could hide. They all got in as quickly and noiselessly as possible and Rick managed to close the door behind him just as the voices were coming around the corner. There wasn't much room in the cupboard with the four of them and Rick found himself uncomfortably pressed against the door. He didn't dare move to make himself more comfortable as the voices came closer and they could make out two people talking. One voice Rick recognized as professor Creedon's, their History of Magic professor, the other was unfamiliar.

"And you believe the students know something about Doge's murder?" Creedon asked in his familiar hoarse and raspy tone.

"We have reason to believe that Doge dealt in dark objects, knowingly or unknowingly, and that's what got him killed. It's possible one or more of the students purchased such an object at Doge's so I'm here to follow up on that to make sure none of the students are in danger." The other voice said.

"Of course, of course." Creedon replied. "We wouldn't want to endanger the students. Anything in particular you're looking for?"

"Yes, we seem to be missing a ring with the emblem of a dragon on it." The other man replied.

"I see." Creedon replied. "Well, I must say, I haven't seen anything like it around here."

"But you will keep an eye out and let me know if you do, won't you? For the safety of the students."

"Of course, of course, Cormac. I'm always prepared to help the ministry." Creedon replied.

"That would be much appreciated. I look forward to hearing from you." The man called Cormac walked away and a few seconds later, Rick heard Creedon shuffling away as well. The four friends waited a few more seconds to make sure the coast was clear before stepping out into the hallway. Without a word, they hightailed it back to the common room.

"What in Merlin's name was that about?" Rigel said as soon as they stepped through the portrait hole.

"That was Cormac." Cedric answered. "He works for the department of Magical Law Enforcement. You know, the one from the article, the one who's looking for Doge's killer."

"He's looking for Doge's killer here at Hogwarts?" Terri asked, sounding surprised.

"No, you heard him, he's just looking for a dark object, a dragon ring of some kind." Rick said.

"Yes, but Cormac also thinks the ring is what got Doge killed so if he thinks the ring is at Hogwarts, who's to say that the killer doesn't believe so as well and comes looking for it as well?" Terri suggested.

"Don't be daft." Rigel admonished her. "This is Hogwarts, we're safe here."

"How can you be so sure?" Terri asked.

"Because Hogwarts is protected by powerful spells and enchantments." Cedric explained. "If someone wants to come in uninvited, they won't go undetected."

"How do you know that?" Rick asked.

"I read it in _Hogwarts, a History_." Cedric explained.

"Of course you did." Rick said rolling his eyes at the obvious answer. "Rigel and Cedric are right. Cormac is just looking for a dark object that may be here. Besides, if the ministry thought a killer might be hiding at Hogwarts, don't you think there would be a lot more extra protection to make sure we're safe?" Rick pointed out.

"Rick's right, the killer would be stupid to hide at Hogwarts. However, if the ring is really here at Hogwarts, then whoever has the ring forms a danger to all students." Cedric warned.

"Exactly. Just imagine what someone like Mordaunt would do with that." The thought alone caused the hair at the back of Rick's neck to stand up. "I wonder what's so dangerous about this ring. Have you ever heard of a dragon ring?" He addressed Rigel and Cedric, the two people most likely to know about magical objects.

"Nope, sorry." Rigel replied.

"Me neither." Cedric said. "But I'll look it up in the library tomorrow."

They kept talking about Cormac, Doge and the ring until long into the night. When they finally called it a night and went to bed, Rick had trouble sleeping. He kept thinking there was something he was forgetting but each time he thought he was close to the answer, it slipped away again. After a while, he dismissed the feeling, telling himself he was just imagining it and Cedric would probably find the answer in the morning and he went to sleep.

The following morning at breakfast, there was an addition to the head table in the Great Hall. It was a young man in his thirties with brown hair and a finely trimmed circle beard sitting at the right end of the table. He was already finished with his breakfast and was observing the students.

"Who do you think that is?" Rigel asked.

"I don't know." Rick replied. They kept an eye on the man throughout breakfast but he remained put until professor Aldebourne rose and beckoned for silence.

"Good morning, everyone." He said. "I trust we all had a good night's sleep and have enjoyed a wonderful breakfast. As you may have noticed, we are joined today by Mr. Claudius Cormac of the ministry of magic. Mr. Cormac is here because of the events that occurred in Hogsmeade yesterday. I would like to stress that there is no reason for fear, Mr. Cormac is just here to make some inquiries. If you were in Hogsmeade recently and you think you saw something out of the ordinary, please report it to Mr. Cormac. Likewise, should you be called upon to answer some questions, I expect everyone, students and staff, to lend their full cooperation." A lot of murmurs rose following Aldebourne's announcement and the headmaster paused to let the hall calm down again.

"What was it you said last night, Rick?" Terri teased. "If a killer was hiding at Hogwarts, there would be more protection from the ministry?" Rick grinned at her.

"Cormac is one guy, I think they'd send more if that were the case." He said. Aldebourne motioned for silence and continued.

"I would like to stress once again that no one has anything to worry about, there is no danger to any of us. If you do have concerns or you believe you have more information, please direct yourself to your prefects, head boy and girl or your head of house. Thank you."

"Nothing to worry about?" Rick repeated, keeping his voice low so the students closest to them wouldn't overhear. "There's potentially a dark object hidden here."

"Obviously, they're trying not to cause a panic or chase off whoever's got the ring." Cedric said wisely. "That's probably why Aldebourne didn't mention it."

"Well, I'm not feeling very assured knowing Atia Rydell might have a dark object." Terri complained. Cedric shuddered at the thought.

"Maybe it's not such a bad idea to ask Griffiths about his trip to Hogsmeade after all?" Rick suggested. "Perhaps he saw something?"

"How do you suppose to bring it up to professor Griffiths?" Cedric asked. "We can't just walk in and ask."

"Aldebourne did say we should go to our head of house if we had any concerns. I do recall you had some concerns, Cedric." Rick said with a grin. Cedric looked panicky.

"No, I didn't." He said hastily.

"Come on, Cedric. If you do this, you might help get Rydell expelled?" Rick tried to persuade him.

"Absolutely not, no, forget about it."

"Professor?" Griffiths looked up from behind his desk after the first years' Charms class.

"Yes, Carmichael?" Cedric looked uneasy.

"I'm a bit worried about what happened in Hogsmeade." He said unsure.

"There's nothing to be worried about, you're safe at Hogwarts." Griffiths assured him, collecting his things and preparing to leave. Cedric looked alarmed.

"Oh, ok, uhm, but how can you be sure?" He persisted.

"Well, nothing's sure but the castle is very well protected so the chances of you getting harmed are very slim." Griffiths replied, getting a little impatient.

"Oh, ok, thank you." Cedric said. Griffiths ushered his student out of his class and made to shut the door but Cedric wouldn't give up. "It's just, I was a little worried that it happened so close. I mean, I didn't know Mr. Doge but it Is kind of worrisome that this could happen so close to Hogwarts." Griffiths nodded but didn't reply. Clearly, he was bored of this and was trying to get rid of Cedric. Around the corner, Rick, Rigel and Terri were giving Cedric encouraging signals and thankfully, Cedric persevered and took more drastic measures. "Did you know Mr. Doge?" He asked. Griffiths looked taken aback.

"Not personally, no." He replied.

"But it must be strange for you to know the murder happened while you were in Hogsmeade, mustn't it?" Cedric went on. Griffiths stared at his student intensely, as if he was trying to figure out how much Cedric knew and what he was trying to achieve with his questions. Cedric reddened under the professor's scrutiny.

"Yes, it was very disturbing to learn about it." Griffiths replied at last. "If I had known about it, I would surely have tried to help Mr Doge. Now, shouldn't you hurry up to get to your next class?"

"Yes, of course." Cedric answered and he made himself scarce as quick as possible, joining Rick, Rigel and Terri.

"Well done, Ced." Rick said.

"Don't ever make me do that again." Cedric said, a little distressed. "He thinks I was accusing him of murder."

"No, he doesn't." Cedric threw Rick an incredulous look but Rick ignored it. "Well, at least we now know Griffiths wasn't involved and he didn't see anything."

"Which brings us back to square one." Rigel replied.

"Perhaps it would help if we knew what the ring did?" Terri suggested. Cedric nodded.

"I'll look it up in the library tonight." He said. "But first, we need to get to Transfiguration before professor Rowlett deducts points again for tardiness.

After class, Cedric did go to the library to look up anything he could find about a ring with a dragon emblem on it but he came back to the common room empty handed, as he did the day after and the day after that. The murder in Hogsmeade and Cormac's presence was a widely discussed topic amongst the students at Hogwarts in the following days. People were exchanging theories about Doge's death that got more and more outrageous each time Rick heard them. He heard someone theorize Doge killed himself to get away from his wife and heard a fourth year telling anyone who would listen that Doge's wife killed him and covered it up in an elaborate scheme. By the end of the week, Rick overheard a fifth year swearing to his friend that Doge was secretly a member of something called the Serpent Brotherhood and that he was killed by his own people as revenge for turning informant to the ministry. Rick told Cedric, Terri and Rigel about what he had overheard when they all got back to the common room that evening.

"That has to be the most far-fetched theory I've heard so far. I'm telling you, people are letting themselves get carried away by their imagination." Rigel said shaking his head.

"But what is the Serpent Brotherhood?" Rick asked.

"You've never heard of the Snakes?" Rigel asked incredulously.

"Who?" Terri and Rick replied simultaneously.

"The Snakes, you know, the Serpent Brotherhood?" Rigel explained but Rick still wasn't the wiser.

"Again, who?" Rick repeated his question.

"You've been here nearly three months and you've never heard of the Serpent Brotherhood? Don't you read the Prophet?" Cedric asked. Terri shook her head.

"Not if I can avoid it, no." Rick replied.

"They're only the baddest guys out there at the moment." Cedric explained.

"Really? Why? What did they do?" Rick asked.

"It's an organization that hates muggles and glorifies Salazar Slytherin's ideals. That's why they call themselves the Serpent Brotherhood, because the snake is the symbol of Slytherin." Cedric explained.

"But why would they hate muggles?" Terri asked.

"They just believe wizards are superior to muggles and muggleborns and they think that muggles should be enslaved and worship wizards or something." Rigel said.

"That's ridiculous." Terri exclaimed.

"Of course it is." Cedric confirmed. "But that's what these guys believe and preach. They even go as far as torturing or abusing muggle families."

"That's horrible!" Terri cried out. "Why would they do such a thing?"

"I don't know, " Rigel shrugged. "For fun, I guess."

"Who does something like that?" Terri wondered, sickened by the thought.

"Muggle haters like the Mordaunts and Rydells." Cedric replied bitterly.

"Then why doesn't the ministry arrest them?" Terri asked.

"They try, but it's hard to track down the members of the Brotherhood." Rigel answered. "They wear masks and usually, by the time the aurors arrive on the scene where muggles were attacked, the Snakes have disappeared into thin air."

"Aurors?" Rick asked nonplussed.

"Dark wizard catchers." Rigel explained.

"My mom says that's rubbish and the ministry just isn't trying hard enough." Cedric replied.

"What do you mean?" Terri asked.

"Everyone knows families like the Mordaunts and the Rydells are behind the Serpent Brotherhood but the ministry doesn't want to look into it too much because they're such influential families that are friendly with the Minister for Magic." Cedric answered bitterly.

"That isn't right." Terri replied indignantly.

"It isn't, but it's not like the Mordaunts and the Rydells weren't investigated." Rigel argued. "Their mansions were searched, it's just that they're clever about it and the ministry couldn't find any evidence."

"Evidence? Just look at them and you have your evidence." Rick said sinisterly.

"I know, but it's not that simple. You can't send someone to Azkaban just because you don't like the look of them, you need evidence or a testimony." Rigel replied and Rick felt a new surge of hatred well up for Rydell and Mordaunt. He could just imagine how untouchable and clever they must feel, their family having outsmarted the ministry and sucking up to Burwell, the minister of magic. The younger generation probably couldn't wait to join the Serpent Brotherhood as well to pester and torture muggles and muggleborns.

167


	12. The Restricted Section

RICHARD O'CONNELL

Chapter twelve

The Restricted Section

Cormac remained at Hogwarts to investigate for a while longer and his continued presence made them believe he hadn't located the ring yet. October passed into November but still they hadn't come close to figuring out what the dragon ring did. Cedric wasn't one to give up easily though and every day, he spent every free minute he had in the library looking for information on the dragon ring. Free time, however, became sparser and sparser as classes became more demanding. They were now finally doing actual magic but that did not reduce their work load, on the contrary, because on top of all their essays, they were now tasked with practising spells as well in their free time. For Rick, that was not an issue. He loved practising spells and thanks to the mysterious person still handing in his homework, he had loads of free time to do that. Rigel and Terri were managing as well but Cedric was still struggling with the actual magic. It got to the point where he even got extra homework to practise. He didn't complain though and still found time to look for the dragon ring. Rick had already suggested to forget the whole thing, bored with not finding anything but Cedric dismissed the idea, determined to find the answer. He was so immersed in it that he even forgot to head for classes in time and Rick, Rigel and Terri had to go and collect him from the library. One day near the end of November, when it was Rick's turn to collect Cedric at the end of the break to head for Defence Against the Dark Arts, he found his nerdy friend seated at a small table in a dark corner near the end of the library, but he wasn't alone. Atia Rydell and her friend Maeve Domville, were standing around his table intimidating Cedric.

"What are you researching anyway?" Atia was taunting him. "Why are you looking up dragons? First years don't learn about dragons, do they?" She asked her friend rhetorically. Cedric reddened and began to stutter and Rick thought that was a good time to interrupt.

"He's looking for your family resemblance but he should have gotten a book on trolls, really." Atia turned to face him. She had a strange look on her face, like she was genuinely shocked by what he had said.

"And what do you know about my family?" She asked menacingly.

"Only that if they look anything like you, even trolls start look attractive." Rydell narrowed her eyes.

"You better watch your back, O'Connell." She growled before she stalked off, her friend in tow.

"You shouldn't have said that to her, Rydell isn't one to forget an insult soon." Rick shrugged.

"She doesn't scare me." He said, somewhat more bravely than he felt. Atia Rydell was a third year, a Slytherin and genuinely malevolent. She probably already knew more dark spells than all the other students and probably wouldn't hesitate to use them. "Did you find anything yet?" He asked his friend, already expecting a negative answer.

"No, but you're welcome to help." Cedric quipped, knowing Rick was loathe to even open a book, let alone read it.

"No thanks." Rick replied with a grin.

"You should try, it would help with your homework." Cedric suggested, turning more serious.

"I do just fine with my homework, thank you." Rick replied.

"I'm just going to have to take your word on that then." Cedric said, sounding a bit disappointed. "Why is it that you don't want to do your homework with us?" He asked suddenly. Rick was caught off guard for a moment. Cedric hadn't brought the subject up for weeks now and he didn't understand why Cedric would bring it up suddenly. He shrugged.

"I just find it easier to do it by myself, that's all." He lied. Cedric, Terri and Rigel still didn't know he wasn't doing his own homework and he wanted to keep it that way. They would only disapprove if they knew.

"Right." Cedric replied but Rick could tell he didn't believe him. He felt this conversation was getting a little too uncomfortable and he needed to change the topic.

"Anything in that book about a dragon ring?" He asked, pointing to the book Cedric was currently reading. His friend sighed in defeat.

"No, there doesn't seem to be. It just talks about dragon eggs and how to tell which species they are." He closed the book rather forcefully. "What I'd really like to do, is take a look in there." Cedric said, indicating a section of the library that seemed to be closed off.

"What's in there?" Rick asked.

"The Restricted Section." Cedric replied. "It's full of books on dark magic and cursed spells and objects but you need a specially signed note from a teacher to get in and I don't think they'll give one to a first year."

"Why wait for permission?" Rick asked. "Just use Rigel's invisibility cloak and go look."

"But that's against the rules." Cedric replied, slightly alarmed.

"Only if you get caught?" Rick winked but Cedric shook his head.

"Thanks for the suggestion but I'm not that desperate yet." Rick shrugged.

"Have it your way." He replied. "Come on, we'll be late for Defence Against the Dark Arts." Cedric put away the book he'd been perusing and together, they made their way to the third floor.

Professor Lloyd announced they would be starting to learn about dark creatures in the magical world and how to defeat them. Rick prepared himself for a boring lecture but as professor Lloyd talked about the different dark creatures they would be seeing, Rick got an idea. He nudged Cedric when Lloyd wasn't looking.

"What if we tried a different source to find out something about the ring?" Rick whispered to him.

"What do you mean?" Cedric asked, keeping his voice down as well. Rick nodded to the front of the class where professor Lloyd was introducing today's class, Bundimuns. Cedric caught on to Rick's idea.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" He asked worried.

"It's worth a try." Rick answered. He was tired of waiting for Cedric to find something. If Lloyd knew something, it would be far faster to ask him than work their way through hundreds of books in the library. Cedric did not look entirely sure but nodded anyway. At the end of their Defence Against the Dark Arts class, Rick, Rigel, Terri and Cedric waited until everyone else had left before approaching professor Lloyd's desk.

"Professor, we have a question."

" _You_ have a question, Mr. O'Connell?" Professor Lloyd sounded astonished. "Well, I suppose there's a first time for everything. What is it?"

"I was wondering if you could tell us something about a Dragon ring?"

"A Dragon ring? Why would you want to know about that? Moreover, how do you know about that?"

"We may have overheard Mr. Cormac talking about it." Rick admitted. "Can you tell us about it? What does it do?"

"What it does is none of your concern." Lloyd answered sternly. "Leave the matter to the teachers and professionals, you four first years need not concern yourselves with it." The professor's tone made it clear that the conversation was over.

"We will, professor." Cedric answered quickly, tugging on Rick's arm to get him to come along and the four friends left.

"Well, that was useless." Rigel said as soon as they were out of Lloyd's earshot.

"I agree. " Terri added. "Clearly, they don't want us to know anything about the dragon ring."

"Obviously because it's dangerous. What if a student tries to use it?" Cedric said.

"I could definitely see someone like Atia Rydell planning to do just that." Rigel remarked.

"Exactly, and who knows what they would plan to do with it." Rick said, thinking of the Serpent Brotherhood attacking muggles and muggleborns. "We need to know what we're dealing with. Cedric, you said something about the Restricted Section?"

"I told you, we're not allowed in there." Cedric remarked, looking worried at what Rick was planning.

"But the information we need is in there, right?"

"I only said it might be, it might be in there." Cedric tried to backpaddle.

"Right, but we'll only know for sure if we take a look." Rick concluded.

"I don't know, I'd much rather keep looking in the part where we are allowed. I haven't gone through all the books, it may just be a question of time." Cedric tried to change their minds.

"And in that time, someone may get hurt when whoever has the ring decides to use it. We need to find out as soon as possible. Come on, Cedric, where's your Gryffindor spirit?" Rick admonished him. He turned to Rigel. "What do you think, Rigel? Are you in?"

"Secretly trespassing in the restricted section? Of course I am." Rigel assented with a mischievous grin.

"Terri?" Rick turned to his other friend.

"Bring it on." She replied with a wicked smile.

"Three to one." Rick counted. "What do you think, Cedric? We'll have a better chance if you come along, no one knows the library like you do." Rick tried to convince their friend. Cedric seemed to weigh his chances for a few seconds but then nodded in agreement. "Excellent." Rick said. "We'll go tonight."

"Tonight? Really?" Cedric stammered. "You sure you don't want to think on it some more?" Rick threw him an exasperated look and Cedric fell silent.

That evening, the four friends occupied themselves at one of the tables in the common room, waiting for the other students to go to bed. Rigel had hidden his invisibility cloak under his robes and as soon as the last Gryffindors went to bed, the four friends made their way to the portrait hole. Rigel threw his cloak over the four of them and slowly, they made their way to the library. Twice they were forced to a halt. Once, by Peeves who was making mischief with the armours, putting helmets on backwards and switching arms with legs and vice versa. The four friends stayed quiet until the poltergeist had had enough and wandered off elsewhere. The second time, they were forced to stop by professor Griffiths, who was patrolling the corridor. He walked straight past them and they waited until his footsteps died down before proceeding again. When they reached their destination, Rick unlocked the library doors and threw off the cloak as soon as they were inside and had made sure it was abandoned.

"Come on, the restricted section's this way." Rick said to the others and as silently as they could, they made their way over to it.

"Where do we start?" Terri asked as she took in the numerous bookshelves.

"Try looking under 'D' for dragon ring?" Rigel suggested.

"This was a bad idea." Cedric remarked.

"Be positive, Ced." Rick quieted him. "Let's split up. Terri, Rigel, you go look over there while Cedric and I start over here." Terri and Rigel nodded and sped off to the other side of the restricted section. "Come on , Cedric, the sooner we find something, the sooner we can get back to bed." Rick encouraged his friend. Cedric calmed down somewhat and set to work, going over the backs of the books looking for anything indicating the dragon ring. As he too began perusing the books, Rick began to understand why they were restricted. These books taught the most darkest of magic, books on the most foulest of poisons, books on how best to torture your victims, books on dark objects. They leafed through these but there was never any mention about the ring they were looking for.

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" A blood-curdling scream resonated through the library and Rick's heart almost stopped. He rushed to the other side where Rigel and Terri were, Cedric hot on his heels.

"Anyone hurt?" Rick asked when they found their friends, looking unharmed but startled.

"Sorry, it was the book, I opened it and it started to scream." Terri answered, a little disturbed.

"That scream won't have gone unnoticed, we need to get out of here fast." Rigel implored them. The others nodded. Terri put back the screaming book where she'd found it but just as they were about to head back, the library door opened and they heard fast footsteps coming their way.

"Where's the cloak?" Cedric inquired anxiously. Rigel bit his lip.

"I took it off and left it in there." He said with a nod to the non-restricted part of the library, where madame Whifferdill was making her way to them. Rick's heart sank to his shoes. Without the invisibility cloak, they were sitting ducks.

"Run." Rick whispered to his friends. They ran towards the end of the library, hoping from the bottom of their hearts that there would be another way out. There wasn't.

"Split up." Rick whispered. "We try to get around her and make a dash for the exit. Try to get to the cloak on the way." His three friends nodded and Cedric and Rigel went left as he and Terri ran right. If they could get around Whifferdill hiding behind the bookcases, they could get to the library and the cloak and they had a chance to get back to the common room undetected. Rick and Terri slowly made their way to the front, going from bookcase to bookcase. There was a tense moment when Whifferdill shone a light between the rows of bookcases right where they were hiding, causing the two of them to hold their breath but thankfully, she moved on. They were near the front row of the Restricted Section when Rick chanced a glance around the bookcase to see where Whifferdill was. He couldn't see her. He tried to figure out where she'd gone off to when suddenly, he saw the light of her wand moving along one of the bookcases on the other side, right towards where Rigel and Cedric were hiding. If she got to the end of that row, she would certainly catch them.

"She's moving towards Rigel and Cedric." Rick whispered to Terri.

"Poor Cedric, he must be having kittens right about now." Terri said. "He's never cost Gryffindor any points." Rick knew Terri was right, their friend would feel incredibly guilty if he lost Gryffindor points, not to mention it would be unfair as he was against this whole endeavour in the first place.

"Stay put." He told Terri and without an explanation, Rick broke cover and dashed down the corridor.

"Hey! Stop!" He heard Whifferdill call but Rick didn't stop, he needed to get her away from his friends. He only hoped she would follow him. He ran down the library, through the door down the corridor and up the stairs, taking two steps at a time. He looked behind him to see if she was following him but just then, a spell bounced off the step where his left foot had just been and his question was answered. Rick sped up, he couldn't lead her back to the Gryffindor common room so he turned off on the third floor, hoping to lose her there. He didn't really know where he was going, he just wanted to put as much distance between him and Whifferdill as possible. He rounded a corner and came to a skidding halt when he saw the corridor was not abandoned. Someone was standing not ten feet away from him and luckily, hadn't spotted Rick yet as his back was turned to him. Rick knew Whifferdill wasn't far behind him so he quickly dove behind a tapestry to hide. Not ten seconds later, the matron rounded the corner as well. For a middle-aged woman, she was surprisingly fast, Rick thought.

"You there, stop!" Rick could hear hurried footsteps trying to get away, followed by a hard thud and he knew what had happened. Whoever had been out there had been caught by Whifferdill's leg-lock curse. "What do you think you were trying to do, roaming the castle in the middle of the night?" He heard her admonish the perpetrator. "Professor Selwyn will hear about this." Whifferdill marched her captive away and as they passed the tapestry where he was hiding, Rick caught a glimpse of Zacharias Mordaunt and grinned. He couldn't believe his luck, he'd escaped and Livius's cousin had been caught in his stead. He would have been happier to see Livius himself caught but his cousin was close enough. When their footsteps died down and he was sure they were gone, Rick wanted to head back to the common room to see if the others made it back safely when a noise stopped him in his tracks.

"Mordaunt was caught." Someone whispered in a low, deep voice.

"Who cares?" A distinctly female voice answered. "The idiot better not say anything or there'll be hell to pay. Let's go." Rick held his breath as he heard footsteps approach and tried to catch a glimpse of who Mordaunt's accomplices were. As they tiptoed passed his tapestry, Rick could make out Atia Rydell, her friend Maeve Domville and her two ogres Zayne and Treville by the moonlight coming through the windows. He wondered if he should make a noise or something to get Whifferdill's attention so they could get caught too but he quickly decided against it. Whifferdill was probably halfway across the castle by now and Rydell and her mates wouldn't hesitate to maim him if they had the chance and disappear before anyone would come to investigate the noise. He waited another few minutes until they'd gone to come out of his hiding place. He wondered why Rydell and her mates would be out after hours and what they had been doing. He tried to orientate himself and found that he was in the charms corridor just in front of professor Griffiths's office. He looked up and down the corridor, there weren't any places to hide except the tapestry where he had been hiding so why hadn't Whifferdill caught them as well? The only logical explanation that came to mind was that they had been in Griffiths' office when Whifferdill caught Mordaunt but what would the Slytherins be doing in Griffiths's office in the middle of the night when the professor wasn't there? All the reasons he could come up with in his head were all nefarious. Whatever it was, Rick decided he'd had enough adventure for one night and he hightailed it back to the Gryffindor common room, where to his relief, his friends were waiting for him.

"Did you get caught?" Rigel asked him and Rick shook his head.

"Nope, thanks to Atia Rydell and her friends." He replied.

"Rydell?" his three friends replied simultaneously in surprise.

"She and her friends were searching through professor Griffiths' office. Their lookout got caught instead of me." Rick explained.

"But why would they be going through professor Griffiths' office?" Terri asked. Rick shrugged.

"Beats me but it can't be good."

"You don't suppose they were looking for evidence, do you?" Cedric asked.

"Evidence of what?" Rick asked, not sure what Cedric was referring to.

"Well, what if they found out Griffiths wasn't at Hogwarts the night Doge was killed and they're trying to find evidence to frame Griffiths?" Cedric offered. The other three regarded him, thinking.

"Don't be silly. How are they going to find evidence in Griffiths' office? They probably just made a bad test and were trying to alter it." Rigel said.

"I don't know, they could have been looking for the ring?" Cedric suggested.

"We already established Griffiths didn't have anything to do with the ring." Rick said, exasperated by Cedric's persistence.

"So he said." Cedric replied.

"Why don't you go an ask him about it again then?" Rick said, a little annoyed Cedric was so eager to accuse Griffiths. He was by far the most fun teacher they had, he never gave any homework and they could always count on him to favour their house. Cedric didn't reply. Rick knew he would rather skip a class than confront Griffiths about the matter again.

"Do you think we should tell professor Griffiths someone broke into his office?" Cedric tried a different approach.

"And confess we were up after hours and get detention again? I don't think so." Rick rebuffed the idea.

"But what if they stole something or did something?" Cedric argued.

"Then we'll hear about it tomorrow and we can decide what to do then." Rick replied. "Now, I for one am beat and I'm going to bed." He ignored Cedric's still dubious look and heaved himself out of the arm chair.

"I second that." Terri said and she joined him. "That was very brave what you did tonight, you know, leading Whifferdill away from Rigel and Cedric." Terri said out of earshot as they walked up the stairs to the dormitory. Rick shrugged.

"I couldn't let Cedric and Rigel take the credit, I have a reputation to uphold." He replied jokingly. "Besides, it's better one of us gets caught than all of us, right?" Terri smirked.

"Or maybe you felt sorry about Cedric getting caught." She stated knowingly. Rick narrowed his eyes at her.

"Maybe." He conceded.

178


	13. Accusations

ACCUSATIONS

Chapter thirteen

Accusations

They were disappointed to learn the following morning that Atia Rydell and her friends had safely reached their common room as well. There was no news about a break-in in professor Griffiths' office or some kind of tampering so they were left to wonder what Rydell and her mates had been doing. After the fiasco in the Restricted Section, Cedric went back to looking in the non-restricted area for books that could help them. Rick, however, didn't hold his breath for something to turn up from that. Cedric had scoured the entire library for anything that could possibly be connected to the dragon ring and had found nothing. Rick was beginning to think they were never going to find anything about the ring until one day near the end of November. Rick was just returning from the Great Hall from lunch when he met up with Cedric who just came from the library. They were on their way to Transfiguration when they bumped straight into the head boy Garron and his friends on the first floor.

"Watch where you're going, little trouble-maker." Garron jested as he recognized Rick. "I see you heeded my advice, I haven't seen you in detention anymore. Good on you." He placed his hand brotherly on Rick's shoulder and suddenly, it was like a light went on in Rick's head. Garron wasn't wearing his ring anymore, the gaudy ring that, when he thought about it, had looked suspiciously like the image of a dragon.

"It's you." Rick said, understanding dawning on him.

"Excuse me?" Garron asked, baffled at Rick's strange statement.

"You have the Dragon Ring, the dark object the Ministry's looking for." Rick explained and he saw a fleeting look of panic on Garron's face before the head boy recovered himself.

"You are mistaken." He replied. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"You wore the ring when we had detention from you." Rick was not deterred, the more he thought about it, the more certain he was.

"You are mistaken." Garron repeated a little more forcefully. "Now go to your class before I start deducting points."

"Come on, Rick, let's go." Cedric urged him. Realising he wasn't going to get further bickering, Rick complied and the two first years headed for their class.

"It's Garron." Rick explained to Cedric. "He has the dragon ring, I'm sure of it."

"How can you be so sure?" Cedric asked.

"I know he has it, I saw him wearing it that night we had detention." Rick explained.

"But that's impossible." Cedric replied. "Doge was murdered later that night, Garron couldn't have had the ring already." Rick shook his head.

"I don't know how it's possible but he has it, I'm sure of it. I have to tell Cormac." He said and turned around to head back to the Great Hall to seek out the ministry official. Cedric stopped him.

"You can't now, we have Transfiguration in a few minutes." He pointed out. "Rowlett will certainly deduct points again if you're not there." Reluctantly, Rick conceded. He would track down Cormac later. Transfiguration seemed to take even longer than it usually did. They were tasked with trying to transfigure pins into nails but Rick was too preoccupied keeping an eye on the clock to focus on his pin. He ended up badly transfiguring his own quill instead of his pin, earning him a reprimand from professor Rowlett. Finally, after what seemed ages, the bell rung to signal the end of class and Rick was one of the first ones out, his friends in tow.

"Why are you so in such a hurry?" Terri complained, struggling to stuff her book into her bag as she tried to catch up.

"We need to find Cormac." Rick urged his friends, heading to the Great Hall. Cormac should be there now for lunch.

"Why?" Rigel asked.

"Rick's found out who has the dragon ring Cormac was talking about." Cedric explained.

"Really? Who?" Rigel asked interested.

"Garron." Rick replied.

"Garron?" Terri repeated. "But he's head boy. I wouldn't have expected that."

"He's also a Slytherin, you can expect anything from those guys." Rigel jumped in. They reached the Great Hall and Rick immediately scanned the head table to see if Cormac was there. He found him near the end of the table, sitting alone as usual.

"Come on." Rick said and he walked towards the man. There were not a lot of students in the Hall yet so they wouldn't attract much attention.

"Mr. Cormac?" He addressed the ministry man.

"Yes?" The man replied with a quick glance at Rick. He didn't look very interested.

"I'm Rick O'Connell." Rick introduced himself. "I have some information for you." Cormac turned to look at him.

"Proceed." He instructed.

"I heard you were looking for a dragon ring." Rick said carefully. Cormac's eyebrows raised slightly in surprise.

"Where did you hear that?" He asked curiously. Rick ignored the question.

"I know who has it." He answered. "His name is Garron, he's a seventh year Slytherin. I've seen him wearing the ring."

"Are you sure?" Cormac asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Thank you for coming forward with this information, Mr. O'Connell."

"What will you do now?" Rick asked.

"I will confront Mr. Garron with this information and then we'll see." Cormac replied. "Now, go eat and don't mention this to anyone." He said, looking each of them in the eye. The four friends nodded and turned towards the Gryffindor table. They didn't say anything more on the subject, afraid that they would be overheard by the other Gryffindors but they kept their eyes on Cormac as they ate, impatiently waiting to see when he would confront Garron. They strained their necks to watch Garron enter but when he did, Cormac didn't move, he just kept a discreet eye on the head boy. The four friends were less inconspicuous. They kept looking between Cormac and Garron, barely eating, not wanting to miss the confrontation. Only when Garron was finished and made to leave, did Cormac make his move. Rick bumped Rigel with his elbow. Rigel nodded and the four of them rose as well, following Garron and Cormac to the Entrance Hall. The four friends watched as Cormac addressed Garron in the entrance hall, just before the Slytherin was about to descend the stairs to the dungeons.

"Mr. Garron, a word please?" Cormac asked the Head Boy. Garron looked surprised but obliged and allowed Cormac to guide him away from his friends to a secluded corner of the Hall. Rick, Rigel, Cedric and Terri approached as closely as they dared and pretended to have a conversation among themselves while they strained to listen what Cormac was saying.

"Is there something I can help you with, Mr. Cormac?" Garron asked confused.

"Perhaps." Cormac replied. "I have been informed that you are in possession of a rather peculiar ring. Do you mind showing it to me?" He asked.

"A peculiar ring?" Garron replied, looking confused.

"Yes, it has a likeness of a dragon." Cormac tried to jog his memory but Garron didn't show any signs of recognition. Rick had to give him credit, he could hide his feelings well.

"No, doesn't ring a bell." He said. "I'm afraid you've been misinformed, Mr. Cormac. Who told you this?" Worried Garron would talk his way out of it, Rick interrupted the conversation.

"I did." He said and he walked up to join Cormac and Garron. He wanted to make sure Garron knew who he was dealing with. The head boy must know that he'd betrayed himself to them the night of their detention.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Cormac but this boy is lying." Garron said as he regarded Rick. "From the first day he got here, he has demonstrated a pathological need for attention, this must be another way of getting it now that he has had enough of detentions." Garron explained to Cormac. Rick felt a rush of anger overwhelm him.

"You're the one who's lying, you twat!" Rick countered, struggling to keep his rising temper in check. "I know you have it." Rick's exclamation drew the attention of the group of students, who approached to listen. Cormac waved them off but to no avail as the crowd continued to swell.

"Mr. Garron?" Cormac directed himself to the Head Boy again, keeping his voice low. "Mr. O'Connell seems quite sure of himself?"

"I believe the boy is confused, sir." Garron answered. "The only ring I have is this one." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring bearing the image of what was unmistakeably a snake and definitely not the ring Rick had seen him with. "It's my Slytherin ring. All of us seventh years got one to commemorate our final year at Hogwarts."

"Rubbish, that's a different ring." Rick said.

"I'm afraid it is not." Garron replied calmly. "I do not make a habit of involving myself in what I can only assume is a nefarious object. I'm hoping for a good position at the Ministry of Magic next year, such business would only jeopardize my chances. I'm sorry this boy has troubled you, Mr. Cormac but I believe he's only trying to incriminate me as pay-back for me giving him detention."

"You big fat liar! Just watch I don't hex you within an inch of your life!" Rick yelled. The murmurs from the large group of students that had gathered in the hall rose. Mr. Cormac looked at them with aggravation.

"What is going on here?" Professor Creedon shuffled closer. "All that noise." He admonished them in his usual slow manner.

"This young man here is accusing Mr. Garron of hiding a dark object." Cormac filled him in quietly so the crowd couldn't hear him.

"What? Speak up, man." Creedon demanded. Cormac repeated his statement closer to Creedon's ear. The professor must have understood as he stared at Garron.

"Garron?" Creedon repeated confused. "But he's head boy, he wouldn't hide something that dangerous, no, no, no." He said. Rick rolled his eyes at the professor's naiveté. "Who…who accuses him?"

"I do." Rick replied firmly. "I saw him with the dragon ring."

"I told you, the boy must have mistaken my Slytherin ring for something else." Garron replied impatiently. Creedon smiled.

"Problem solved, I would say." He stated loudly, looking pleased.

"You seem quite confident, professor?" Cormac asked sceptically.

"My dear Mr. Corrers –"

"Cormac." The ministry man corrected the professor. Creedon dismissed the correction.

"Mr. Cormac, I know my students and I can tell you with certainty that Mr. Gorden here-"

"Garron." The head boy corrected.

"Mr. Garron would never intentionally hide a dark object." He said so loud the bystanders couldn't help but hear. Cormac didn't look pleased. "I'm terrible with names in my old age but I have no trouble judging characters." Creedon assured them.

"You're welcome to search my quarters." Garron offered Cormac calmly, ignoring Rick's attempt at objection. "But I assure you, you won't find a dragon ring there."

"We will do no such thing." Creedon interrupted outraged. "Where are we heading if you can't even trust the word of a head boy over that of a young upstart?" He admonished. "In my day, this accusation wouldn't even have been taken seriously." He reproved Cormac, who looked uncomfortable with the amount of attention this matter was getting.

"Indeed, that won't be necessary, Mr. Garron." Cormac replied, forcing a smile.

"You can't believe him!" Rick yelled at Cormac as he watched Garron get away. "He's lying!"

"Mr. O'Connell, behave yourself." Professor Creedon admonished. "Ten points from Gryffindor."

"But professor, he's lying." Rick almost pleaded.

"Twenty points!" Was Creedon's answer. "I trust that will teach you to respect your elders." The old professor shuffled away to the Great Hall.

"My apologies for troubling you, Mr. Garron." Cormac addressed Garron with another forced smile.

"No problem, Mr. Cormac, I know you're only doing your job. I'll be sure to report to you if I find something." Garron replied.

"Your help is most appreciated, Mr. Garron." Rick glared at the head boy as he headed for the dungeons when a sharp pain in his shoulder distracted him. Cormac was gripping him tightly and steering him towards a side corridor, away from the crowd of students amassed in the Entrance Hall. When Cormac saw they were alone, he stopped and turned Rick not so gently to face him.

"The next time you think you have an idea, O'Connell, do me a favour and get some evidence before you start accusing random people, have everyone know why I'm here and generally waste my time just for a moment in the spotlight." He spat angrily. "Now my chances of finding the dragon ring have decreased even more." He gave Rick a not so gentle nudge back towards the Entrance Hall and walked away in the opposite direction without another word. Rick couldn't say anything, he was too perplexed to produce coherent sentences. He had rarely been so humiliated in his life. For once, he had done the right thing and no one would believe him.

Back in the common room that evening, Rick found that news had travelled fast and almost every Gryffindor knew Rick had tried to accuse the head boy of having a dark object. Much to his annoyance and anger, he found that most of them took pleasure in his humiliation. He was sitting at one of the tables in the Gryffindor common room fuming while Cedric, Terri and Rigel were doing homework when Crusher, Doolan and Hurst came up to them.

"We heard you made a rather feeble attempt at taking revenge on Garron today." Crusher started.

"Here's a friendly piece of advice. If you're going to accuse our head boy of something, at least make it something believable." Doolan added. "Everyone knows Garron abhors the dark arts."

"I wasn't trying to take revenge, I was telling the truth." Rick defended himself.

"If you say so." Crusher replied with a chuckle before he and his friends sauntered over to a free table.

"I don't understand, why does nobody believe me?" Rick complained.

"We believe you." Rigel pointed out. "Kind of." He added lamely.

"Thanks." Rick replied sarcastically.

"Are you sure you saw Garron wearing the Dragon ring?" Cedric asked unsure.

"Don't start again." Rick warned him.

"Sorry, it's just, how would he have gotten it?" Cedric asked. Rick thought about it.

"The older students went to Hogsmeade, didn't they? Garron could have gotten the ring there." He said.

"But then why was Doge killed if not for the ring?" Terri asked. Rick shrugged.

"I don't know, could be anything." He answered a little desperate. His friends still looked doubtful.

"Even so, it's a bit strange for him to be wearing the dragon ring for all of Hogwarts to see. I mean, if he wanted to keep a low profile, he wasn't doing a very good job of it." Said Cedric.

"You're right." Rick replied, somewhat surprised now that he thought about it. "Why did he do that?" He wondered.

"Because he wanted to brag about it?" Terri suggested. "It's not like anyone here would recognize it, we didn't find anything on the ring in the library, even in the restricted section. It's only because Cormac came looking for it we learned about it."

"Exactly." Rigel agreed. "Garron might not have thought of it as such a big risk."

"Still, it is an awful risk to take, what if a professor recognized it?" Cedric countered.

"He's an arrogant jerk who thought he could get away with it." Rick replied. Cedric ignored Rick's comment.

"If Garron has the ring, I don't get why he doesn't just hand it over to Mr. Cormac? It's not like he can be linked to the murder, we all know he couldn't have killed Doge as he was overseeing your detention that night." He remarked.

"Perhaps he's scared? There's a killer after that ring, I'd probably swear I didn't have it either if I were him." Rigel said.

"But no one need ever know he had it, I'm sure Cormac would keep his name out of it for his protection." Cedric theorized.

"I don't think he wants to hand it over." Rick said. "I think he wants to keep it for himself."

"And do what?" Terri asked.

"I don't know, use it, I suppose for whatever dark purpose he has in mind." Rick shrugged.

"Use it? For what?" Terri asked worriedly.

"I don't know." Rick replied.

"What if he used it already?" Terri wondered.

"No, he couldn't have." Cedric answered. "If there's anything I learned from those awful books in the restricted section it's that dark objects leave behind traces that wouldn't go unnoticed by the professors or Mr. Cormac and rituals require ingredients that cannot be found easily and a lot of them even require some form of animalistic or even human sacrifice. We would have known if he had tried to use it."

"So, Garron might just be biding time until he finds all the correct ingredients?" Rick asked.

"Possibly." Cedric replied. Rick mulled that thought over in his head. If it was true, they needed to find a way to prove it as soon as possible. He knew he was right and if no one wanted to believe him, it seemed he would have to take action himself in order to stop Garron and clear his name.

190


	14. Christmas Woes

CHRISTMAS WOES

Chapter fourteen

Christmas woes

It didn't take long for the rumour to spread to the entire school that Rick had tried to falsely accuse the Head Boy and like the other Gryffindors, most of them did not like him any better for it. Garron, despite being a Slytherin, was apparently quite well respected by the student body, all houses alike, and many students made sure Rick knew that. In the following two weeks, he got all sorts of hateful remarks thrown at his head.

"Attention seeker."

"Cry-baby."

"Wanker." They called him.

The first few times, Rick had let it slide but the longer it went on, the harder it got to ignore it. Rick knew he was right and he was determined to prove it. He had tried talking to Garron but whenever Rick saw him, he was surrounded by other Slytherins who booed and mocked him so he didn't get the chance. Mordaunt and his friends found exceptional pleasure in pestering Rick about the accusation. Whenever he passed Rick in the corridor, Mordaunt would take a few steps back in pretend fear and warn his friends to watch what they were doing or they would find themselves accused of having a dark object.

"Ignore that idiot." Terri would say but Rick found it harder and harder to do so. Worst of all were their Potions classes, which they had with the Slytherins and which provided Mordaunt with an hour's time to laugh and mock him.

"Watch out friends, the Gryffindor accuser has arrived, no Slytherin is safe from his accusations." Mordaunt laughed at him once again as they were waiting outside the dungeon for another Potions class.

"Put a sock in it, Mordaunt." Rick barked.

"Ooooh." The other Slytherins reacted.

"What are you going to do?" Mordaunt mocked. "Accuse me of having a dark object?" Rick lunged for him but Rigel and Terri stopped him just in time as professor Selwyn arrived.

"What is going on here?" He asked.

"Nothing, professor." Rick said as he relaxed again and Rigel and Terri let him go. Selwyn looked at him dubiously, clearly not believing a word Rick was saying and turned to Mordaunt.

"He was trying to attack me, professor." He said with an evil smile at Rick.

"You little –"

"Detention tonight, Mr. O'Connell." It was perhaps good that professor Selwyn had interrupted him or Rick would have landed himself into even more trouble.

"Detention?" Rick repeated incredulously. "But I didn't do anything?"

"I'm sure you had every intention." Selwyn said grinning evilly, almost as if he enjoyed the situation. He turned to enter the dungeon, followed by a smirking Mordaunt. Rick wanted nothing more than to punch that stupid look from the Slytherin's face but managed to refrain himself, vowing to get him back later. The four friends took their seats at the very back of the dungeon, as far away from Mordaunt and his friends as they could.

"One of these days, I'm going to learn a curse that will maim him so bad his own mother won't recognize him, him and Selwyn." Rick gritted his teeth as he plonked down on his seat.

"I know mate, I'm with you." Rigel joined in.

"Look at it on the bright side." Cedric whispered, trying to cheer him up. "If you're lucky, you'll get Garron for detention and you can confront him about the ring again." Rick, however, was still too angry with Selwyn and Mordaunt to feel pleased about anything.

Rick's mood that evening didn't improve when he found out his detention wasn't with Garron but with Whifferdill, who had him scrubbing toilets all evening with nothing but a toothbrush. When he finally got back to the common room, Cedric was the only one up still, scribbling away on a piece of parchment.

"Hey, how was detention?" He greeted Rick.

"Horrible." Rick replied, nursing his left hand. "People should really learn to aim better when they use the bathroom." Cedric pulled his nose in disgust.

"Did you at least get to talk to Garron?" He asked.

"No." Rick answered as he joined his friend at the table. "Whifferdill had the honours."

"Too bad." His friend sympathised.

"What are you doing up so late?" Rick asked. Cedric wasn't usually one to stay up this late alone.

"Nothing." Cedric replied, rather unsettled. "Just doing some homework."

"I thought you had all your work done already?" Rick asked confused. He recalled Cedric saying something like that earlier this evening.

"Just finishing up, adding a few more details, you know." Cedric explained, turning red, which seemed a bit odd. What was even more odd was that Cedric was trying, not so subtly, to cover his homework with his arm.

"What are you trying to hide, Cedric?"

"Nothing." The boy answered alarmed.

"What is it you don't want me to see?" Rick asked amused. "Are you writing love letters?" Rick made to grab the parchment but Cedric pulled it away. "Come on, let's have a look, who's the lucky girl?"

"No one." Cedric replied, still furiously trying to keep Rick from seeing the parchment but he was too slow and Rick plucked it out of his hand.

"This is homework." He said disappointed as he read the first few lines. "Why are you trying to hide homework from me?" Cedric sighed in resignation.

"Because it's not my homework." Rick scanned the parchment again, looking for a name and was surprised to find his own.

"You're the one who's been handing in my homework?" He asked and Cedric nodded. "Why?" His friend shrugged.

"I was trying to save Gryffindor from losing points again." He explained. "And then we became friends and I kept doing it because you saved me from Mordaunt. I was hoping in time, you would start doing it yourself."

"That's why you kept pushing me to do homework with you guys." Rick said, understanding dawning on him. Ceric nodded.

"I must say the extra homework has kept me quite busy and it would have been nice to have that time to focus on other things." Rick couldn't look Cedric in the eyes, he felt quite guilty. His friend had been working tirelessly doing Rick's homework on top of his own and all his research on the dragon ring because he couldn't be bothered.

"I'm sorry, Cedric, I should have done this myself a long time ago." He apologised.

"It's okay, you can do it now." Rick didn't reply. He knew he had to, he couldn't let Cedric continue like this but it wasn't going to be easy. "So you never realised it was me who did your homework?" Cedric asked.

"No." Rick replied honestly. "First, I thought it was Lewis but I can't see her helping me no matter what. Then I suspected Terri or Rigel but they didn't seem to know anything about it, they seemed to think I did it myself so I kept my mouth shut and let them believe it. I figured as long as I didn't figure out who it was, he or she would keep doing it."

"Well, you were right about that." Cedric said looking a little embarrassed. "And don't worry, I won't tell Terri and Rigel as long as you do your own homework from now on. I'll help you?" He offered.

"Thanks, Cedric." Rick replied. "It's just, it doesn't come easy to me, I get distracted easily." He confessed.

"It's a good thing I'm quite persistent then." Cedric replied with a smile. Rick laughed. "And in return, maybe you can help me with my wand work?" Cedric suggested.

"No problem." Rick consented. "Now, tell me, what does Waffling have to say about charms?" Rick and Cedric worked together to finish Rick's homework and Rick was quite proud of the seven he got on that essay afterwards, even though Cedric had done most of the work. From that moment on, Rick always joined his friends in their study hours. Rigel and Terri were quite surprised to see this new development but they didn't comment on it. With Cedric's help, Rick was handing in his own homework now and though his essays weren't as good as Cedric's, at least he was handing in something and he was even starting to understand some of the theoretical mumbo-jumbo the professors were teaching them. Cedric was a great teacher, explaining things in a way that wasn't boring and helping Rick stay focussed on the task at hand. Rigel and Terri pitched in as well. If they knew what had caused the change in Rick or what Cedric had done, they didn't speak of it and Rick soon realised he didn't dread homework as much as he used to and he actually found some pleasure in it. Rick kept true to his word as well and helped Cedric with his wandwork. He showed his friends the abandoned class room, which Rigel and Terri immediately thought was great and even Cedric, who initially had some doubts about the legality of coming there, soon saw the advantage of having a practise room. Every week, the four of them would head down there to practise magic and they had the most fun there, trying to jinx one another and then trying to remember the counter curse.

After a while, the commotion of the accusation quieted down and even the Slytherins got bored of harassing Rick about it. Rick himself still had his mind set on proving Garron had the ring but for now, the head boy remained out of his grasp. Rick suspected he was deterred by his accusation. Garron must have realized that with Cormac and everyone else at Hogwarts on the lookout for the ring, it would be dangerous to use it or wear it now and without the ring as evidence, Rick's chance of exposing Garron was nearly no-existent. Nevertheless, the four friends kept their eyes and ears out for anything that suggested Garron was trying to use the ring. So far, though, nothing peculiar had happened. Cedric was still looking in the library for any information on what Garron could try to accomplish with the ring but the hope of finding anything was faint.

Outside the castle the weather changed, the hales and rains making way for snowstorms and blizzards. The first week of December, their head of house professor Griffiths, took down the names of the Gryffindor students who would be staying at Hogwarts for Christmas. Rick immediately signed up, not in the least interested in spending his holidays with Mad Maggie but he was one of the few. Cedric, Terri and Rigel were all going home to spend Christmas with their families. Terri and Cedric were looking forward to it, Rick knew, but they refrained from happily chatting about it for his sake, which he was grateful for. Rigel, on the other hand, made no secret of it that he was about as excited about going home as he would have been if someone told him he would have to transfer to Slytherin. According to him, Christmas with the Baileys was as dull as a History of Magic class.

"So why are you going then?" Rick had asked him.

"My parents sent me a letter saying I need to be on that train or I'll be in big trouble." Rick wasn't at all looking forward to having to spend Christmas alone. Still, alone at Hogwarts was still far better than going home to Mad Maggie. On the final day of term, Rick, Rigel, Cedric and Terri enjoyed a quiet evening in the common room before the train left the following morning. Cedric had, for once, put down his books and had joined them in a game of Exploding Snap. After a few games, they all had singed eyebrows and were all laughing at each other. The mood was so amiable, Rigel addressed the issue they had all been skirting around somewhat the last few days.

"So Rick, what are you going to do while we're gone?"

"I don't know." Rick replied. In truth, he hadn't given it much thought. "Sleep in, perhaps practise some flying."

"You could continue to look in the library for the dragon ring." Cedric suggested.

"You've been looking for nearly two months, I don't think _I'll_ find anything in two weeks." Rick replied.

"Well, you'll never know if you don't try." Cedric answered with a wink.

"I'm going to miss your jokes, Cedric." Rick said amused. "Anyway, I heard Garron is going home for Christmas so we won't have to worry about him doing something with that ring for a while."

"I heard Cormac is finally leaving as well." Rigel remarked.

"What?!" Rick asked, alarmed at this news. "But, what about the ring? He's not going to look for it anymore?"

"Apparently not." Rigel answered grimly.

"But he's wrong!" Rick said adamently.

"I know, but we can't prove otherwise. Not yet, anyway." Rigel said dejectedly. The news about Cormac leaving darkened Rick's mood even more and he went to bed feeling helpless and restless. With Cormac gone and none of the other teachers believing him, Garron would have free reign to try and use the ring and he had no clue how to stop him.

All in all, Rick wasn't feeling very cheerful the next morning when he said goodbye to his friends as they were preparing to leave. Cedric did remember to give him an early Christmas present, which cheered him up slightly.

"Something to do when you're feeling bored." He said with a smile, handing Rick a piece of parchment with a list of spells on it they hadn't practised yet. "I looked some up for you and when you've mastered them, you can teach me." He said with a wink.

"Thanks, Cedric." Rick thanked him sincerely.

"Have a good Christmas, Rick."

Rick waved until they were out of sight and then dejectedly turned around to head for the common room. There was no one there, he was the only Gryffindor to have stayed behind. He didn't mind it, the other Gryffindors didn't like him much anyway and now he could do whatever he liked and he could have all the best seats by the fire without anyone commenting on it. It wasn't all fun, though. Rick lasted all of four days before he was immeasurably and irretrievably bored. He had tried flying, using one of the school brooms but it wasn't that much fun without his friends, he couldn't play chess or Exploding Snap on his own either and though he could pass the time building exploding snap card houses, it wasn't fun if you didn't have someone you could laugh with when your eyebrows got scorched. So he had turned to Cedric's spells. That had kept him busy for a day or two until he'd mastered them and he became bored with that as well. Christmas morning was a nice surprise when Rick woke up to find presents had been left at the foot of his bed. He couldn't even recall when he last had presents for Christmas and he didn't waste much time tearing into them. From Rigel he got a box of chocolate frogs and Terri had sent him a bag of Dungbombs, each with a Christmas card attached. Rick felt a little guilty as he looked at his presents. They were great but he felt a little embarrassed that all he could afford to give his friends was a sloppily self-made Christmas card as the money Harewell had given him when she came to his house was long gone. He hated being poor and felt uneasy about it for the better part of the day. There was a Christmas feast planned that evening but as there were only about a dozen students left, none of whom liked him, it was a pretty dull affair. With nothing to do and the walls of the common room closing in on him, Rick took to roaming the halls, looking for something to do. It was a few days after Christmas when on one of his wanderings, he passed the library and he couldn't help remembering Cedric's joke of the night before they left. It couldn't hurt taking a look, not that he expected to find anything but you never knew and at the moment, he welcomed any distraction. He wandered the abandoned library, not sure where to begin looking so he randomly pulled out books to see if they were interesting. Most of them weren't until he came across one that sparked his curiosity. It was titled _Wizarding Families, A Geneaology_ and Rick couldn't help but wonder if his mother was in it. He leafed through the book and to his pleasant surprise, he soon found a chapter on the Aplin family. It was quite boring to read about the accomplishments of the different Aplins and who had married who and to top it off, the family tree stated Angela Aplin to be the last heir, with no husband or children listed. He didn't know what he had expected or hoped for but it was certainly more than the book had provided. He was just leafing through the following pages, looking if there was any more information on Angela Aplin when someone interrupted him.

"Well what do you know, Rick O'Connell is reading a book." Rick startled at the voice.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, pleasantly surprised when he saw Rigel standing in front of him.

"My parents decided they didn't have time for me after all so they sent me back early." Rigel explained. "This is about the last place I expected to find you. What are you doing here?"

"I'm trying to find my family." Rick answered.

"Your family?" Rigel replied confused. "I tough you said you were muggleborn?" Rick realised he'd never told him about the picture of his mother he'd found in the trophy room that night in detention and felt kind of stupid about it.

"I thought I was." He explained. "Until I saw a picture of my mother and her quidditch team in the trophy room."

"The Trophy room?" Rigel repeated non-plussed. "Since when do you go there?"

"I discovered it that night Terri and I had detention there." Rick confessed.

"That was ages ago, why didn't you say anything?" Rick shrugged.

"I wasn't sure what to make of it and it didn't really come up either." He said. In truth, he hadn't told his friends because back then, they hadn't been on the best of terms. "I always thought she was a muggle, I never saw her doing magic and I was eight when she died, so I would remember if I'd seen her do magic." He expressed to Rigel what had been bothering him these past few months.

"That's strange." Rigel replied. "Why would she have chosen to live as a muggle?" Rigel questioned.

"No idea." Rick confessed. He'd thought about it as well but he couldn't come up with a satisfying answer.

"If your mother was a witch and you didn't know, do you think your father was a wizard as well?" Rigel asked. Rick had to admit that the thought had crossed his mind as well and somewhere, he had even hoped that was the case just so he would have a sort of connection to his father as well but he knew better.

"I don't think so." He replied. "Judging by my grandmother's reaction to magic, he was a muggle."

"Do you suppose then your mother gave up magic for him?" Rigel suggested.

"Maybe." The thought had crossed his mind too in the hours he'd spent lying awake thinking about it but he did not really want to believe his mother had to give up magic because his father didn't like it. How would he have felt about Rick then if he had known he was a wizard as well?

"Wow, I can't imagine ever abandoning magic for anything." Rigel replied, unaware of the turmoil in Rick's head at that moment.

"I know, me neither." Rick agreed, somewhat dejected. Rigel picked up on it.

"What about in the book? Did you find anything about your father in it?" He asked, trying to help.

"No, he isn't even mentioned." Rick turned back to the family tree. "Look, Angela Aplin is the last on the tree."

"No way." Rigel exclaimed, a smile forming on his face as he scanned the page. "Look at her parents." He said. Rick followed the small line up the page where Angela's parents were listed as John Aplin and Alice Bailey.

"Bailey?" He read. He hadn't even noticed that before.

"I believe she's like my dad's second cousin once removed or something but basically, that means we're actually cousins." Rigel explained.

"Cool!" Rick exclaimed. It wasn't the family he had hoped to find but learning he and Rigel were actually related was certainly the next best thing.

"So what do you think, cousin? Shall we celebrate by ditching these stuffy books, get ourselves a nice hot butterbeer and get started on the enormous bag of sweets I got from my uncle for Christmas?" Rigel suggested with a grin which Rick couldn't help reciprocate.

"Sounds great, cousin." He accepted.

They left the library to head for the Great Hall, still chatting about the discovery they'd just made. As they neared the ground floor, however, they fell silent when they heard angry voices coming from the Entrance Hall. Curious, they followed the noise and found it coming from around the corner near the great oak doors leading outside the castle. Careful not to make a noise, they looked around the corner and found professor Griffiths talking to a strange man. The stranger was rather largely built, had a long scruffy beard, a deep scar running along his right cheek and looked none too friendly. He was definitely not someone that belonged at Hogwarts and he was standing over Griffiths like he was threatening the professor.

"Look, Purcell, I'm going to get you the money, I promise." Griffiths pleaded. "I have something that I can sell and it will make me enough money to pay you, don't worry. I just need a little bit more time."

"You're running out of time, Griffiths, I want my money now." The stranger replied but before Griffiths could reply, he caught sight of Rick and Rigel watching them. The stranger noticed as well and immediately covered his face with his hood.

"Sorry, professor, we didn't mean to interrupt." Rick said, coming round the corner now that they had been discovered.

"No! No need to apologize, you didn't interrupt." Griffiths said and Rick thought he sounded rather relieved. "I suppose you have some questions about that essay I asked you to write, don't you?"

"Uhm..." Rick and Rigel looked at each other, wondering what Griffiths was talking about.

"Well, I think we'd better discuss that now." Griffiths said, quickly moving away from the hooded man.

"This conversation isn't over, Griffiths." The man called after the professor but Griffiths dismissed him.

"I'm afraid it is, my students need me, talk to you later. Follow me, boys." The stranger hesitated a few seconds but there was nothing he could do so reluctantly, he turned around and left.

"Uhm, professor? What was that about? I didn't know we had a paper to write?" Rick asked.

"No, you're right, you don't. I just needed an excuse to get out from under that conversation." Griffiths replied with an embarrassed chuckle. "Thank you for that by the way."

"Who was that man? What did he want?" Rick asked intrigued.

"He's nobody, it was just a misunderstanding." Griffiths answered evasively and he sounded rather nervous. Rick and Rigel looked at each other disbelievingly.

"Didn't look like a misunderstanding to me." Rigel remarked.

"Well, it's really none of your business, is it Bailey?" Griffiths snapped, making the boys jump in surprise. They'd never seen Griffiths lash out like that.

"Sorry, professor." Rigel apologised.

"Now go to your common room and we won't speak of this again. In fact, it's probably best you don't mention what you saw to anyone at all. People might get the wrong impression. You know, they might think there's something going on when there isn't." Rick and Rigel didn't understand what he was saying but Griffiths didn't stick around to explain himself and walked away in the direction of his study.

"What do you suppose that was all about?" Rick asked his friend when their professor had gone. Rigel shrugged.

"Beats me."

203


	15. The Serpent's Lair

THE SERPENT'S LAIR

Chapter FIFTEEN

The Serpent's Lair

Rigel and Rick speculated for a while why the strange man had been threatening Griffiths and what the professor's scheme was to make money but their crazy theories didn't bring them closer to an actual answer so they put the matter out of their mind and soon found other things to occupy themselves with. They practised flying a lot, which nearly always quickly evolved into an air-borne snowball fight. When they weren't flying, they practised spells and curses on each other, resulting in an afternoon in the Hospital Wing for both of them. Despite this, Rick felt that it was the best Christmas holidays he'd had in a long time. With the return of the other students, however, Rick was reminded that the dragon ring still hadn't been found and that its owner possibly had a nefarious purpose for it. With Cormac gone, he felt it was up to them to prove Garron's guilt and find the ring. That proved to be easier said than done, however, as the head boy was harder to pin down than he'd thought. Every time they saw him, Garron was accompanied by friends or other students he was helping out and who glared at Rick when they saw him scowling at Garron, much to the head boy's amusement. This didn't discourage Rick, on the contrary, it made him more determined. He developed a habit of trying to spot Garron everywhere they went, waiting for an opportunity when he could confront Garron alone. A couple of weeks after the Christmas holidays, Rick finally saw his chance. It was quite late but the four friends were still in the Great Hall having supper when Rick noticed Garron shuffling in and taking a seat at the Slytherin table, alone for once and Rick wasn't about to let such an opportunity slide. He waited for the head boy to finish up and then hurried to catch up with him in the Entrance Hall.

"Hey Garron, what did you do with the Dragon Ring?" He called out to get the other boy's attention. Garron turned around and rolled his eyes when he saw who it was.

"Leave me alone, O'Connell." He said and he turned around to walk away again.

"You can't run away forever, you know I'm right." Rick taunted him as he followed him. He was hoping to get a rise out of Garron so he would spill something that would compromise him.

"You shut up about this nonsense, you hear me?" Garron warned him.

"Or else what?" Rick taunted. By now, several other students had stopped to watch the encounter and Rick was pleased to see it made Garron uncomfortable.

"I'll make you regret it." Garron hissed at him.

"What are you going to do?" Rick goaded him. "Give me detention? Go ahead, I don't care, I know I'm right and I will prove it. Everyone thinks you're so righteous but I know better. You're nothing more than a common criminal, a …" Rick didn't get to finish his insult as Garron grabbed him by his robes and pushed him up to the nearest wall. Quickly getting over his surprise, Rick stared defiantly back at Garron, daring him to make a move but before the situation could escalate, someone interfered.

"What's going on here?" Professor Creedon shuffled his way through the crowd and took in the scene. Garron was holding Rick to the wall by the scruff of his robes. "Mr. Gambol? Care to let go of Mr. O'Connor?" Garron reluctantly let go of Rick and struggled to compose himself.

"Sorry, professor." He apologised.

"What brought this on?" Creedon inquired, lazily looking from one student to the other.

"Just a disagreement professor, nothing major but I'm afraid I lost my temper. It won't happen again." Garron replied. For a moment Rick was surprised Garron didn't tell the professor Rick had been troubling him about the ring again. They both knew professor Creedon would just side with Garron again. He could only assume Garron dismissed this incident because he was afraid someone might actually start looking into the accusation.

"Conners, anything to add?" Creedon looked at him with droopy eyes.

"No professor." Rick replied grudgingly.

"Well then, I suggest you head for your common rooms then." Both boys nodded and professor Creedon proceeded on his way to the Great Hall. Garron began to walk towards the dungeons but Rick wasn't about to let his first opportunity in weeks slide so easily.

"Hey, Garron." He called out. The head boy brusquely turned around and stood threateningly over Rick.

"Listen here, you little troublemaker. I don't have the dragon ring, get that through your thick skull. If I hear one more mention of that stupid ring coming from your mouth, I swear you will find yourself on the first train to London, back to whatever rock you crawled under from, do you understand?" Rick was too flabbergasted to reply and Garron seized the opportunity to walk away from him. Rick stared at Garron's retreating back, thinking over what had just happened. Clearly, Garron was afraid, which only ensured Rick he was on the right track. Clearly though, the direct approach didn't help so he needed to come up with a different plan.

"You want to what?!"

"Shhh." Professor Starsmeare shushed Rigel angrily. They were on the top of the Astronomy tower, looking through their telescopes, trying to find some celestial object or other. Rick wasn't really paying attention, he had just told Rigel, Terri and Cedric his plan to expose Garron. "That's insane!" Rigel exclaimed, whispering so as not to anger professor Starsmeare again.

"You're crazy." Terri added, also whispering.

"Listen, we have to find proof that Garron has the ring. Now, he isn't foolish enough to wear it in public again so he must be hiding it and where better to hide it in a place that's off limits to anyone who's not a Slytherin?" Rick replied, a little frustrated that they were so readily dismissing his plan.

"And how do you expect to get into the Slytherin common room?" Terri asked, keeping an eye on professor Starsmeare who was helping out McCallum adjusting his telescope three seats over. "As you pointed out, it's off limits, we don't even know where it is or how to get in." Rick had already thought of that.

"I have a plan." He said.

"What? You'll just ask them to give you a tour?" Rigel jeered. "Somehow, I don't think they'll go for that." Rick ignored his friend.

"We'll simply follow a Slytherin back to his common room." He explained. "That'll give us location and manner of entry."

"No offence to your plan, but you would have to find a pretty stupid Slytherin for that to work without him noticing you." Terri pointed out.

"That's where you come in, Rigel." Rick answered.

"Me?" Rigel repeated, looking slightly alarmed.

"Well, you do have an invisibility cloak, don't you?" Rick pointed out.

"Well, yeah but..."

"You can follow anyone without them noticing it. You can find out how to get into the Slytherin common room." Rick explained.

"Okay, but even if I can, the cloak only makes you invisible, not intangible. They'll see us opening the door, they could bump into us. We won't get two yards inside that common room before they discover us." Rigel voiced his concerns.

"That's why we have to wait for a time when the common room will be practically deserted." He paused for effect to let his friends catch on.

"No, uh uh, if you're suggesting we go during class hours, I'm out." Cedric said immediately. Rick rolled his eyes.

"I wasn't going to suggest that, Cedric." He assured his nerdy friend. "It would raise too many questions about where we were anyway. No, I thought we could go during the next quidditch match. That's Slytherin versus Ravenclaw and almost all of Slytherin house will go and watch the game, leaving the common room practically deserted. We go in, take a look around and get out before the match ends." The other three looked at him.

"That's actually not such a bad plan." Rigel was the first to comment.

"So you'll help?" Rick asked hopeful.

"Yeah, I will. And while we're there, we can leave the Slytherins a nice present." He said with a devious grin.

"Great! What about you two?" Rick asked Cedric and Terri.

"I'll help too." Terri said confidently.

"Fantastic! Cedric?" Cedric looked rather reluctant at the thought of breaking school rules again, especially provoking the Slytherins by breaking into their common room.

"Don't worry, you won't have to do much, we'll do most of the work." Rick assured him, gesturing to Rigel, Terri and himself. Cedric considered the three of them and then nodded.

"Ok then."

"Thanks Ced." Rick replied.

"We'll have to plan it exactly right, someone should stand watch to alert the others when the Slytherins are coming back." Terri said.

"Yeah, we'll have to work out some sort of signal." Rigel concurred.

"And we should have a back-up plan, in case something goes wrong." Terri added.

"If you four are quite finished chatting, perhaps you can start paying attention?" The four of them gulped and immediately focussed back on their telescopes. They hadn't heard the professor Starsmeare come up behind them. "Good." Professor Starsmeare continued. "Now, as I was saying, later this year, we'll be studying meteor showers. An interesting and as of yet little studied field of astronomy is the investigation into whether astronomical events have an influence on magic." Rick tuned out the rest of professor Starsmeare's lecture again. He couldn't possibly focus on silly astronomical events when he had an invasion to plan.

The first part of the plan went off without a hitch. Two days before the Ravenclaw-Slytherin game, Rick and Rigel hid under the invisibility cloak and followed some Slytherin students back to their common room. They committed to memory the entrance's location and password and quickly hightailed it back to their own common room to discuss the plan again with Cedric and Terri. They decided Cedric would be their lookout while Terri, Rigel and Rick would enter the common room and search for the ring. If they found it, they would take it with them and leave the same way they came. If their search took a bit longer and they were not back before the match was over, Cedric would set off a piece of Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks as a warning and a distraction. After that, he would head back to the common room and Terri, Rick and Rigel would be on their own.

The day of the match arrived and as before all quidditch games, the atmosphere in the Great Hall that morning was electric. As the players came down for breakfast, they were welcomed with cheers from their respective houses and supporters. The whole school was in uproar about the upcoming game as its outcome was important to see who would win the quidditch cup. Rick, Rigel, Terri and Cedric, however, were too nervous to participate in the merriment. The more Rick thought about it, the more he felt his plan was idiotic. A lot depended on luck and if they were discovered, the Slytherins would surely lynch them but still, he was reluctant to call it off. This might be their only chance to look for the ring.

"Everyone remember their part of the plan?" Rick asked his friends for what was probably the fifth time. Rigel and Terri nodded. Cedric was a little green and looked like he would throw up if he dared open his mouth and Rick noticed he had yet to bring himself to eat, not that he was eating much himself. He just hoped Cedric would hold out, he worried a little because if Cedric chickened out in the middle of the mission, they would definitely be in trouble. Rick wanted to go over the plan again to make sure everyone remembered their part but before he could, they were interrupted by Rigel's obnoxious cousin Regina who came up to them, her face painted with blue stripes, wearing a blue and bronze scarf and blue flags.

"Hi guys, I hope you're all going to cheer for Ravenclaw later?" She asked expectantly.

"Sure, Regina." Rigel replied, eager to have his cousin retreat to her own table.

"Definitely." Rick said, throwing her his most winning smile, eager as well to get rid of her. He didn't want to risk her catching on that something was up. Regina seemed clueless, however.

"Great, I'll see you all out on the pitch in a bit. I do hope we win." Regina said and she skipped back to her own seat. Personally, Rick could not care who won today's game. With any luck, he would be celebrating his own victory tonight.

The students began to exit the Great Hall. Rick, Rigel, Terri and Cedric waited until most students had gone before they set off but instead of going to the quidditch pitch, they made sure they were alone before ducking into a broom closet close to the entrance to the dungeons. When the last footsteps had died down, they emerged from their hiding place with Rigel's cloak over their heads and made for the dungeons as quickly as they could without causing the cloak to slip. There wasn't any time to lose, they weren't sure how long the Quidditch match would be. As agreed, Cedric stayed behind near the entrance to the dungeons, the firework in his pocket, as Rick, Rigel and Terri continued down into the dungeons. To their relief, it didn't take very long to find the entrance to the Slytherin common room again. Rick gave the password (Serpent-tongue) and the portion of wall gave way, just as it had for the Slytherins they'd observed a few days before. Cautious not to make a sound – they couldn't be sure every Slytherin would be gone - Rick, Rigel and Terri entered. The room was quite dark and sinister looking compared to their own common room, which was mostly illuminated by sunlight coming through the windows. Here, the only window gave out to an underwater view of the lake, which gave the room an eerie greenish glow and made it hard to spot anyone. Rick squinted his eyes. The Slytherin common room was strewn with leather sofas, expensive looking, dark wooden cupboards and trinkets in all shapes and sizes but it was, thankfully, abandoned.

"It's safe." Rick announced when he was sure no one was present. They took off the cloak and immediately set to work. "We have no time to lose, we got to move fast." Rick instructed as he walked further into the common room.

"Drat, and here I was contemplating having a party." Rigel joked.

"We should split up." Rick suggested, not in the mood for one of Rigel's jokes. "Rigel and I will go check the dormitories. Terri, you search in here and make sure you can hear Cedric's signal if he sends one." The three of them did not waste time and immediately got down to business. It did not take very long to find the dormitory of the seventh years and soon Rick and Rigel were going through cupboards and trunks in search of the ring. After about half an hour, they had to admit that the task was harder than they thought it would be. They had looked everywhere but apparently Garron had not thought it wise to leave the ring anywhere obvious.

"Try looking for hidden compartments." Rick told his friend. After about fifteen more minutes searching, Rigel turned to Rick with a sigh.

"Rick, it's useless, we'll never find it." Rick knew Rigel was probably right but he wasn't ready yet to give up already. This might be their only chance and he didn't want to regret it.

"Go check on Terri, maybe she's found something." He replied and Rigel left the room. Rick was conscious of time ticking by and their window of opportunity closing. He didn't know how long he continued to search until suddenly, he heard the unmistakeable sound of fireworks in the distance. It was Cedric's signal, the match was over and the Slytherins were heading back to their common room. Abandoning his search, Rick sprinted out of the dormitory in search of Rigel and Terri. He found the latter in the common room, looking anxious.

"Where's Rigel?" Rick asked.

"I don't know, I thought he was with you?" Terri replied, a trace of panic in her voice.

"I told him to find you, to check if you found something." Rick said, doing his best to keep his own panic at bay.

"Well, I haven't seen him and I haven't found anything either." Terri answered.

"Bugger." Rick cursed. Where was Rigel? Time was running out, the Slytherins could be here any minute and they were horribly exposed without their friend's invisibility cloak.

"Terri, you go ahead, get out of here, I'll go look for Rigel. No use in all three of us getting caught." Rick said.

"Get out of here?" Terri asked. "With all those Slytherins out there and no invisibility cloak? No way!" She said. "I'm staying right here until we find Rigel." They ran through the common room and searched every dormitory until they found Rigel bending over a bed in the first year dormitory.

"What are you doing?" Rick demanded out of breath. "Didn't you hear the signal?"

"Just leaving our Slytherin friends a present." Rigel said with a wink.

"Well, hurry up or you'll be giving it to them in person." Rick said urgently. "What is that anyway?"

"Bulbadox powder." Rigel clarified with a grin.

"What?" Rick replied, not understanding.

"I'll explain later." Rigel said, dumping the last of the powder on the bed, pocketing the container and getting out his cloak. They found Terri in the common room and the three of them quickly hid themselves under the invisibility cloak and headed for the exit. They were too late, a couple of metres before they reached the hatch, it suddenly flew open of itself and a group of merry Slytherins barged in, yelling and cheering. Rigel, Terri and Rick pressed themselves against the wall, their hearts racing. They knew the Slytherins couldn't see them but they were helpless as they saw more and more Slytherins came pouring in. Rick was sure it was only a matter of time before someone bumped into them and they were discovered. He felt Terri fumbling around behind him and was about to jab her with his elbow to get her to stop – he was afraid she might cause the cloak to slip – when she suddenly held up a dung bomb in front of him. Realizing what she had in mind, Rick nodded to her, grabbed it and tossed it carefully toward the dormitories. It hit the door and exploded, immediately releasing a truly foul smelling odour. Rick, Rigel and Terri didn't stay long enough to smell it and took advantage of the confusion that arose to throw open the hatch and escape. They awkwardly ran through the dungeon corridor and didn't stop until they reached their own common room, worried someone had seen them and given chase.

"Mantichore." Rigel said, still gasping for breath. The Fat Lady swung aside to grant them passage to the common room where an anxious looking Cedric was waiting for them.

"Thank Merlin." He said when he saw them. "What took you so long?" They explained what had happened.

"That was close." Cedric said afterward. Rigel nodded.

"Lucky Terri had that Dungbomb." He said.

"You didn't do so bad yourself with the Bulbadox powder." Cedric said smiling.

"Thank you, thank you." Rigel said, making a few bows for good measure. "I'd love to see their reaction, it almost makes me want to go back."

"Really? You barely made it out of there?" Cedric replied unbelievingly.

"I said almost." Rigel answered shrewdly.

"Can someone finally explain what Bulbadox powder is?" Terri asked.

"Bulbadox powder makes the skin break out in boils when you touch it." Cedric explained. "I should imagine the Slytherins will look quite attractive tomorrow." He laughed and Terri and Rigel soon joined in. Rick laughed as well but he couldn't help feeling a pang of disappointment. They hadn't found the ring.

"Are you alright, Rick?" Terri asked.

"I'm fine." He assured her. "Just disappointed we didn't find anything, I was so sure the ring would be hidden there."

"I know, we did too." Terri said comfortingly.

"Look at it from the positive side, at least we'll get a good laugh out of it when the Slytherins show up for breakfast tomorrow covered in boils." Rigel said. Rick grinned at the thought but the failed undertaking still weighed heavily on his mind.

"Maybe we didn't look well enough?" He suggested. "I wouldn't put it past those Slytherins to have some secret compartments somewhere."

"Are you saying we should try again?" Terri asked. Rick looked at his friends. Rigel didn't look too sure but Cedric looked positively terrified at the thought of having to go through that again.

"No, it's too risky." He replied. "Besides, I think we looked thoroughly enough around. If we didn't find the ring this time, we won't find it a next time. Garron must have hidden it someplace else. I'm sure he has it and he must have gathered whatever ingredients he needs by now, so what is he waiting for? What's he planning to do with it?"

"Maybe he doesn't know how to use it?" Rigel suggested. "Or maybe he's waiting on a last ingredient?"

"If you didn't find it, perhaps that means he got rid of the ring after you accused him?" Cedric offered.

"Do you really think he would just chuck away such a valuable object?" Terri replied. "He could've just given it to Cormac instead if that were the case."

"Terri's right." Rick said. "Garron's too ambitious and that ring gives him power. He wouldn't just get rid of it, not if he could gain something from it. No, my guess is that he's either planning on selling it or using it. The question is to who or to what end."

"I still have a hard time believing that." Cedric replied. "I mean, Crusher said it, Garron abhors the dark arts, why would he involve himself in them, especially if he's after a job at the ministry next year?" He argued.

"I don't know, Cedric." Terri replied. "The way Garron goes on and on about sucking up to powerful people to get what you want, I wouldn't put it past him."

"Exactly." Rick said.

"Maybe." Cedric conceded.

"So what do we do now?" Rigel asked. Rick looked at his friends, he didn't really know what to do at the moment.

"I suppose there isn't much we can do at the moment." Terri said. "Best thing we can do now, I think, is to keep an eye on Garron and wait for him to make a move." The others nodded in agreement.

"Well, in the meantime, we might as well get started on that paper for Lloyd" Cedric suggested. Reluctantly, Rigel and Terri agreed and although Rick did not like that plan one bit, he realized he couldn't do anything about Garron that night so he obliged and shut up about the head boy. Lloyd had asked them for an twenty inch long essay on the treatment of werewolf bites and Cedric immediately began summing up all the ones he'd read about. Rick didn't listen, his mind remained on Garron and the Dragon Ring.

217


	16. Deals, Debts and Threats

DEALS, DEBTS AND THREATS

Chapter SIXTEEN

Deals, Debts and Threats

The next morning, Rick, Rigel, Terri and Cedric went down to the Great Hall early in hopes of catching a glimpse of Mordaunt's new look. Mordaunt and his friends weren't there when they arrived but they knew immediately that something was up as the Great Hall was more boisterous than usual with students running from table to table with a copy of the Dailey Prophet in hand. They didn't need to wonder long what was going on as Cedric managed to get a copy not long after they sat down for breakfast. Rick, Rigel and Terri had already started scooping up generous amounts of food but Cedric seemed to be more fascinated by what was on the front page.

"Hey guys, listen to this." He interrupted them and read the article aloud.

 **ATTEMPTED BREAK-IN IN MURDERED SHOPKEEPER'S SHOP**

Last night, ministry officials were called out to Hogsmeade to investigate suspicious noises coming from the shop of the late Mr. Doge. Mr. Doge was murdered in what aurors suspect was an attempted break-in and although that murder took place nearly four months ago, there had been no promising leads or suspects until another attempted break-in last night. Mrs. Doge, who still lives above the store, reports to have heard strange noises coming from the store last night and did not hesitate a moment to call in the aurors, who wasted no time in responding to the call. When they arrived, the intruder had already fled but thanks to witnesses, the suspected burglar was identified as 44-year old wizard Vincent Purcell, who is known to the ministry for petty theft and blackmail. Minister Burwell confirmed that when Purcell is captured, he will be questioned about his involvement in the earlier burglary in the shop early November that cost the life of Mr. Alphard Doge and expressed confidence Purcell will be arrested soon and that the whole affair may be put to rest at last. Claudius Cormac, the lead investigator on the case, urges the public to keep a careful eye out for Purcell and to notify the Ministry immediately when spotted.

"Purcell… where do I know that name from?" Rick wondered aloud.

"That was the name of the guy threatening Griffiths at Christmas." Rigel answered.

"You're right." Rick answered, remembering now. "I'll bet you it's the same guy. I wonder if Griffiths knew Purcell was involved in Doge's murder?"

"Who knows? In any case, Griffiths must be relieved the ministry's onto him." Cedric said. A large commotion at the Slytherin table broke off their conversation and the four friends looked over, expecting to see Mordaunt and his friends walking in with huge sores on their faces.

"It's only the Slytherin quidditch players." Rigel said disappointed. Slytherin had defeated Ravenclaw 280 to 80 in yesterday's match, bringing them one step closer to the quidditch cup. The only team standing in their way now was Hufflepuff and Rick furiously hoped they could win against Slytherin, only to see the disappointment on Mordaunt's face. "Where are they?" Rigel wondered impatiently, referring to said boy and the other first year Slytherin boys.

"I don't think they'll come." Cedric replied wisely.

"What? Why?" Rigel exclaimed.

"Well, if you woke up in boils and blisters, would you dare show your face in the Great Hall?" Cedric questioned. Rigel pulled a face.

"Too bad, I would have loved to see their faces." He said.

"I bet they improved immensely." Rick said grinning. They lingered near the grand stairs, hoping still to catch a glimpse of the Slytherins before they needed to attend Charms when the sound of arguing peaked their interest.

"What right do you have to search my things?" Careful not to expose themselves, they peeked over the rail to see Garron arguing with Atia Rydell.

"I already told you, it wasn't me." An unimpressed and almost bored Atia replied.

"Who else could it be?" Garron questioned. "You question me about that bloody ring, demanding to give it to you and when I refuse, my things get searched. I already told you, I don't have that bloody ring."

"Are you not listening, you oaf?" Atia replied impatiently. "It wasn't me so go whine to someone else about it." Garron was trembling in anger.

"Thirty points from Slytherin for attempted thievery. Perhaps that'll teach you to stay out of other people's affairs." He said furiously before stomping off towards the dungeons, passing Rick, Terri and Cedric who hastily got out of his way.

"What are you looking at?" Atia sneered when she caught sight of them. The foursome beat a hasty retreat, not wanting to anger an already mad Atia Rydell. Hurriedly, they made their way to the Charms corridor, discussing what they had just witnessed.

"Garron thinks Atia was searching his things for the ring." Rick surmised.

"At least he doesn't suspect it was us." Cedric said, sounding relieved.

"But why would Atia be looking for the ring as well?" Rick wondered.

"Somehow, I don't think she would turn it over to Cormac if she found it." Said Terri.

"Exactly." Rick agreed. "So what does she want with it then?"

"She must know what it is and what it can do!" Rigel said hopefully. "Perhaps we can get it out of her?"

"Great, any ideas on how to achieve that?" Rick asked sarcastically and Rigel's face fell as he realized Rydell would sooner eat her hat than tell them anything they wanted to know.

"Even if we could get it out of her, it doesn't mean she knows the answer." Cedric said. "Knowing Atia, just knowing it's a dark object will entice her enough to want to possess it."

"Cedric's right." Terri seconded as they took their seats in the Charms classroom. "Well, at least we got off clear and Slytherin is thirty points poorer because of it." She finished with a wink as professor Griffiths prepared to start his class.

It was quite an amusing class. Professor Griffiths instructed them to practise the Locomotor spell they had started to learn. The spell was used to make objects move of their own accord. Rick and Rigel didn't have any trouble with it and were soon racing their quills around the classroom. It was tremendous fun until one of the quills stabbed a Ravenclaw girl in the arm. Professor Griffiths wasn't pleased and for a moment, it looked like he would punish them or at least tell them off but instead, he calmly requested that they put an end to their game. Quite baffled, the two friends complied and restricted themselves to performing the assigned exercise. When the bell rung to signal the end of class, Rick and Rigel collected their things and made to leave the classroom like the rest of the students when professor Griffiths stopped them.

"Bailey, O'Connell, stay for a few minutes, would you?" The two boys looked at each other warily, fully expecting to be scolded about their little game. When the last students had filed out, Griffiths turned to them, looking uncomfortable and agitated.

"You haven't told anyone about what you saw at Christmas, have you?" He asked them nervously. Rigel and Rick shared a puzzled look.

"No, professor." They said in unison.

"Good." Griffiths said, looking visibly relieved.

"Best to keep it that way. It wasn't anything serious, just a disagreement between acquaintances, you know. We wouldn't want to disrupt an investigation with trivial matters, do we?"

"Is this about the article in the prophet this morning, professor?" Rick asked boldly. Professor Griffiths ignored the question.

"You know how people can get the wrong idea sometimes and make a hippogriff out of a beetle, it's best to keep mum about what you saw, boys."

"The ministry seems to think Purcell had something to do with Doge's death." Rick charged on, not really sure if he was overstepping a boundary or not but he wanted to know why Griffiths was so frantic about them knowing of his connection to Purcell. It wasn't like the professor had done anything wrong, was it?

"Rubbish." Griffiths laughed uneasily. "Purcell is not a dangerous killer."

"He looked pretty dangerous to me." Rigel remarked innocently. Instantly, Griffiths' mood changed.

"Well, I wouldn't expect two young boys to know anything about such things." He said sternly. "Now go on, professor Rowlett will be waiting." He ushered them out and Rick, for one, wasn't unhappy to do so. Griffiths looked deadly serious now so they quickly made themselves scarce. They found Cedric and Terri in the courtyard enjoying the break.

"What did Griffiths want to talk to you about?" Terri asked when she caught sight of them. Rigel and Rick told them what had happened.

"I don't think Griffiths is quite as comfortable with the warrant on Purcell as we thought." Rigel said sarcastically when they'd finished.

"You think?" Rick replied equally sarcastic. "I wonder why."

"Maybe he's afraid of being connected to a guy like Purcell?" Rigel suggested.

"Why?" Terri asked.

"Well, maybe Griffiths is scared of what people will think or say if they know he's connected to Purcell?" Rigel explained. Their conversation was interrupted by Frank McCallum who ran up to them excitedly.

"Hey guys, have you heard?" He said out of breath.

"What?" All four of them said.

"Mordaunt and his friends are in the infirmary. Anderson says they've got something called spattergroit.

"Spattergroit?" Rick and Terri repeated nonplussed.

"An infectious wizarding disease that causes the skin to break out in purple pustules." Cedric supplied.

"Exactly, Colin says they'll wear the scars of it for the rest of their lives." McCallum said.

"If only." Rick muttered. McCallum frowned but Cedric, Terri and Rigel grinned knowingly. By the end of the day, the whole school knew something was wrong with the Slytherins. Most of them knew Mordaunt and his friends didn't catch a case of spattergroit but rather a case of Bulbadox powder and they applauded whoever had succeeded in getting into the Slytherins' beds. Rigel, Rick and Terri wanted nothing more than to tell everyone they were the ones who had succeeded but Cedric stopped them, saying that doing so would surely invite retribution from the Slytherins. Although they didn't like it, they took comfort in the fact that Rigel's trick with the Bulbadox powder had been quite thorough as the Slytherins didn't show up either in History of Magic the next day. The bell rung to signal the start of classes but as it was, only the Gryffindors and the Slytherin girls were present for professor Creedon's class. As usual, the professor slowly shuffled into the classroom and gingerly lowered himself on his chair where he would remain for the rest of the class.

"Good morning, class." He greeted them in his usual raspy voice.

"Good morning, professor Creedon." The class chanted back.

"Today we'll be talking about Emeric the Evil. Now Emeric the Evil lived somewhere in the-" Professor Creedon paused when he saw Lewis had raised her hand.

"Excuse me, professor." She began. "But we seem to be missing half of the class. Where are the Slytherins?"

"They are indisposed and have been excused, you are kind to express your concern for them. Now, …" As professor Creedon droned on about Emeric the Evil, Rick leaned over his desk to get closer to Lewis, who was sitting directly in front of him.

"Don't worry about the Slytherins, Lewis." He whispered to her. "They went to the infirmary for a _spot_ check." He grinned at his own pun. Lewis half turned around to face him.

"What, all of them?" She inquired confused. Rick nodded.

"Yes, I guess you could say the infirmary has become a hot _spot_ for the Slytherins." Rigel decided to contribute. Lewis threw them a puzzled look but didn't ask for an explanation, she was too busy taking notes. Rick, Rigel, Terri and Cedric enjoyed a wonderful day without the company of Mordaunt and his friends. Sadly, it couldn't last forever and their nemesis was released from the infirmary the next morning. That didn't mean, however, they couldn't continue having fun with the Slytherins' pustular problem and they were lucky enough to run into the Slytherin boys near the Great Hall at breakfast, when loads of students were passing on their way to breakfast or classes.

"Mordaunt, we missed you in History of Magic yesterday." Rick greeted them. "Too bad you had to visit the infirmary. Did someone knock the _spots_ off you?" A few other students who were standing nearby laughed, much to the fury of Mordaunt and his cousin Martin Rydell.

"Yeah, we're positively _boiling_ with curiosity over what happened." Rigel added, barely keeping himself from laughing.

"Hilarious." Mordaunt said dryly. "Did it take you all day to come up with that?"

"Oh, you've got us there, Mordaunt, we did, you're _spot_ on." Rick replied with a grin. This was too much fun.

"Sod off." Mordaunt threatened and he stalked off under loud laughter from the crowd of students.

"Ooh, testy." Rigel laughed.

"What's wrong, Mordaunt?" Rick called after him. "Did we touch on a sore spot?" The whole Hall burst out laughing, loving the Slytherins' humiliation.

They enjoyed teasing Mordaunt and the rest of the first year Slytherin boys for a couple of days after. The prank knocked Mordaunt down a peg and he no longer acted like he was a king walking through the corridor. Whenever he seemed to recover himself and regress to his old habits, the four friends would remind him of it and he soon piped down again, the humiliation too fresh in his memory. Two weeks passed without any noteworthy events, February made room for March and soon all the Gryffindors could talk about was the upcoming Quidditch game against Hufflepuff. They had lost the first game and would now have to win with as great a lead as possible to still have any chance at winning the Quidditch Cup this year. The morning of the game, the atmosphere at the Gryffindor table, therefore, was both nervous and exuberant. Rick, Rigel, Terri and Cedric were running rather late – they'd had trouble getting out of bed after last night's practise session in the abandoned classroom had gotten out of hand. Cedric, Terri and Rigel had already left to reserve seats. Rick would follow after a brief sanitary break. By the time he was jogging across the lawn towards the quidditch pitch, the match was about to begin. He could already hear the commentary.

"Welcome to the fourth game of the season." The Hufflepuff boy who did the commentary announced. The crowd cheered. "Today's game is Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff!" Just as Rick neared the stadium, he caught sight of Crusher, Doolan and Hurst bent over a piece of parchment and he slowed down somewhat.

"Don't bother asking Griffiths, he sent me walking." He overheard Hurst complain.

"Again?" Crusher asked. "He sent me walking last quidditch game as well." Intrigued, Rick drew in closer to listen. The three older students hadn't noticed him yet and he was fine with that, he wanted to know what they were on about. Hurst shrugged.

"His debt must be bigger than usual." He said. At that moment, Doolan spotted him.

"What are you doing here, little man?" He asked. Rick shrugged.

"Going to the quidditch game, of course." He explained innocently.

"The Gryffindor team is looking to redeem themselves after their devastating loss against Slytherin earlier this year and they are keen for a victory." The announcer was saying. "They will be hard pushed to win against the Hufflepuffs who, as you all remember, played a brilliant game earlier this year against the Ravenclaw team and scored themselves a resounding victory. This is promising to be an exciting game."

"You're a bit late, aren't you?" Doolan said nodding his head to the stadium and obviously not buying Rick's excuse.,

"I got held up." Rick explained. "What did you mean by Griffiths having debts?" He asked the older boys. The three looked at each other unsurely.

"That's really none of your business, is it?" Crusher admonished him.

"Oh, come on, I won't tell anyone." Rick appealed to them.

"It's not like it's a big secret." Hurst explained.

"Griffiths has a bit of a betting problem." Doolan continued.

"And he's not a very good better either, always goes for the losing team. We usually earn quite a bit of money off him." Hurst added.

"Sshh." Crusher hushed them, looking at something behind Rick. Rick turned around and saw Garron marching past them. He spotted them and for a moment Rick was sure he would tell them off again for gambling but he just looked the other way on his way to the quidditch game.

"Not so tough anymore now, is he?" Hurst said, more to his friends than to Rick.

"What do you mean?" Rick asked.

"We saw him in Hogsmeade last time, all alone and looking around as if he didn't want to be seen." Doolan explained.

"Now we thought that a bit odd so we followed him." Hurst continued.

"And?" Rick asked impatiently.

"He met a hooded man in one of the alleys and gave him a small package." Doolan answered.

"Did you see what was in the package?" Rick asked, his heart throbbing in his throat.

"Yeah, it was leaves from the venomous tentacula." Doolan replied.

"Leaves?" Rick repeated incredulously and a little disappointed. "Why would he sell leaves?"

"Because the leaves of the venomous tentacula are pretty valuable." Crusher replied. "You can get a good price for them if you find the right buyer."

"Garron's a hypocrite." Doolan stated. "He admonishes us for encouraging people to bet while he steals from the greenhouses and trades in prohibited items."

"Did you confront him with it?" Rick asked, curious.

"Of course we did." Hurst replied with a grin. "And he won't be interfering anymore in our affairs in the future in exchange for our silence." The gears in Rick's head were turning. Why was Garron out for money? Was Rigel right and was Garron waiting to buy a last ingredient? A wave of cheering drew their attention back to the game.

"The quaffle is released and the game begins!" They heard the commentator announce.

"You'd better get going or you'll miss the game, little man." Doolan said. Rick nodded and followed Doolan's advice, his mind still occupied with what he'd just learned about Garron. He reached the stands and thankfully, it didn't take him too long to locate his friends.

"There you are!" Rigel greeted him. "What took you so long?"

"I'll explain later." Rick said as a Hufflepuff chaser scored the first goal and they booed with the rest of the Gryffindors.

The game didn't go so well. Hufflepuff had an excellent team and its chasers were better than the Gryffindors. The Gryffindor keeper did his best to keep as many quaffles out as he could but the Hufflepuff chasers barraged him with shots and scored goal after goal.

"Another goal for Hufflepuff." The commentator said as the Gryffindors cringed again. "They now lead 80 to 50. Gryffindor in possession of the quaffle, Crane passes to Wallace who passes it on to Humphrey and – YES! Hufflepuff chaser Sedgewick intercepts before Humphrey can grab it. He heads for the goal posts via the right side which is completely open and gets ready to shoot. What the-?" At the last moment, Sedgewick passed the quaffle to his team captain who neatly threw it into the unguarded left hoop.

"Goal!" The Hufflepuff section cheered again, waving their colours. "I don't think the Gryffindor keeper saw that one coming, I don't think any of us did."

"Come on, Bishop, you could have stopped him, just hurl a bludger at his pretty face!" Rigel was yelling to one of the Gryffindor beaters but Rick was pretty sure the player didn't hear a word of Rigel's tirade as he was already flying back to the other end of the pitch.

"Gryffindor in possession again, Crane heads for the goal posts and - wait, is that the snitch?" Rick looked away from Crane and saw the two seekers diving at great speed, Dobbs just a bit behind his Hufflepuff rival, both focused entirely on the tiny gold fleck in front of them.

"Wigworthy is closing in and reaches out to grab the snitch. Come on, Avery!" Avery Wigworthy, the Hufflepuff Seeker, was closing in on the little gold speck in front of him, gaining a few feet on Dobbs who was trying to keep up but to no avail. Wigworthy stretched out his arm and seconds later slowed down, his hand held up in victory. "He has it! Wigworthy catches the snitch! Hufflepuff wins 240 to 50!"

"I can't believe we lost again." Rigel lamented when they got back to the common room afterwards. "I saw that trick move of Sedgewick and Brunswick coming a mile away and don't get me started on Dobbs. Have you noticed he never sees the snitch first? I mean, he always waits until his opponent sees it and then he chases him. What kind of tactic is that?" He ranted.

"Nevermind what tactic he uses, listen to what I learned about Garron this afternoon." Rick said and he told his friends what Crusher, Doolan and Hurst had told him.

"So Garron _is_ dealing in prohibited items." Terri concluded.

"Exactly, and if he's involved with that, who's to say he isn't involved with the ring as well?" Rick said with a pointed look at Cedric.

"Okay, I believe you." Cedric replied. "But why would Garron risk everything to get money? If Crusher, Doolan and Hurst caught him, surely someone else can as well?"

"I don't know, he must be pretty desperate." Terri replied.

"Of course." Rick exclaimed, realization dawning on him. "You said it yourself, Cedric, ingredients for a dark ritual are hard to come by. I'll bet you anything Garron needs money to get one."

"That makes sense." Rigel replied. "So what do we do about it?"

"Confront him about it, of course." Rick answered.

"I don't think that's such a good idea." Cedric interrupted. "You did that once before when you accused him of having the ring and that got us nowhere and made him more wary and careful."

"What do you suggest then?" Rick asked, a little peeved Cedric didn't approve of his plan.

"We watch him, wait for the next Hogsmeade weekend to come round and try to catch him red-handed." Cedric explained. "We'll have evidence then so he can't deny it anymore and the professors can investigate further." Rick hated to admit it but Cedric's plan actually sounded quite good.

"Fine." He agreed. "We'll do it your way."

Rick wasn't about to let Garron off that easily, though. Every morning, he checked the notice board to see if anything had come up about a new Hogsmeade weekend and he staked out the greenhouses every spare minute he got, hoping to catch Garron reaping Venomous Tentacula leaves. Each time, however, he was disappointed and had to return from a fruitless trip. His bad mood was made worse by Mordaunt, who felt more cocky now that Gryffindor had lost to Hufflepuff. It was Sunday evening when Rick, Rigel, Terri and Cedric made their way to the Great Hall for supper when they ran into Frank McCallum walking very strangely, as if his legs were made of jelly.

"What happened?" Cedric asked him.

"Zacharias Mordaunt, Trevill and Zayne." Frank replied, his face beet red.

"Must be the Jelly-Leg curse." Rigel said, looking at Frank trying to keep himself upright by leaning on Cedric's shoulder.

"Do you know the counter curse?" Frank asked hopefully. Rigel shook his head.

"You'd better go see Madame Sangster." Cedric advised. Cedric and Terri offered to help Frank to the infirmary and the three of them were a funny sight to behold, swaying from left to right like drunkards as the two friends tried to keep their portly housemate on his feet. The students in the Entrance Hall were laughing hard and even Rick and Rigel had to work to keep from laughing.

"No wonder the Gryffindors are rubbish at quidditch, they can't even walk straight." A familiar voice jeered over the laughter.

"Put a sock in it Mordaunt, or you may find your bed covered in Bulbadox powder again." Rigel snarled at him. Mordaunt shut up but regarded them strangely, as if he was putting two and two together. Not waiting for him to reach a conclusion, Rick and Rigel quickly walked on.

"I think he knows." Rick said as they sat down at the Gryffindor table.

"Knows what?" Rigel asked.

"That we broke into the Slytherin common room." Rick replied.

"Rubbish." Rigel said. "He can't know." Rick didn't look convinced. "Even if he does, what's he going to do? He can't prove anything." Rigel said. Rick had to admit Rigel had a point and he put the incident out of his mind. Frank turned out to be ok, Madame Sangster had him cured in an instant but they soon learned they hadn't seen the end of Mordaunt. Tuesday morning, Rick, Rigel, Terri and Cedric went to sit at the back of the dungeon for their potions class as usual, when they were surprisingly joined by the arrogant Slytherin.

"Lost something, Mordaunt?" Rick asked, surprised at this development. Mordaunt didn't beat around the bush and got straight to the point.

"I know it was you who slipped that Bulbadox powder into our beds." He said menacingly. "I want to know how you did it." The four friends looked at each other apprehensively.

"What makes you think we had anything to do with that?" Rigel asked. "Like we want to be anywhere near the Slytherin dormitory." Mordaunt ignored him.

"How did you get into our dormitory?" He repeated.

"You got what you deserved, Mordaunt so back off." Rick dismissed him.

"Get out your copies of _The Art of Potion Making_ and turn to page 87. Today we will be making, or at least trying to make, a Forgetfulness Potion." Selwyn told them with a look at McCallum. McCallum was probably the worst student in this class, always managing to mess up potions. It didn't help, of course, Selwyn was always on his back about it. "You can get your ingredients from the cupboard." The professor waved his wand and the doors of the cupboard flew open. "Follow the instructions in your books and get to work." The students did as instructed and there was a slight jostle as all of them tried to get to the ingredients first. Soon, the dungeon became clouded by the fumes rising from their boiling cauldrons. Reassured that Selwyn couldn't see or hear them, Mordaunt continued his threat.

"If I ever get the idea that you've broken into our common room again, I'll have a chat with my father."

"The school board can't decide to expel a student, Mordaunt." Rigel replied haughtily. "Your daddy is not as powerful as you think." Rick smirked. Take that, Mordaunt.

"Perhaps not, but he can make sure to cut that allowance of yours, O'Connell. That does come from the school board, in case you didn't know, Bailey." He said smartly. Rick didn't dare look his friends in the eye. He had never told them he had no money whatsoever and he found it shameful to admit he was dependent on the school board. He tried to focus on his mistletoe berries that he had to grind to powder.

"Allowance?" Rigel repeated, looking at Rick questioningly. Rick felt his face redden and he stomped his berried more vigorously.

"Oh, you didn't know?" Mordaunt seemed delighted to hear they didn't know about his situation. "O'Connell here gets his education for free, off the backs of the school board. He's so poor he can't even buy his school supplies."

"Shut up, Mordaunt." Rick grumbled.

"Why, are you embarrassed about it? You should be." Mordaunt continued maliciously. "You like to think you're something but the truth is, if it weren't for my father's generosity, you wouldn't even be here, not that someone the likes of you ever deserves to be here so if I were you, I'd start treating my benefactor's family with a little more respect." Mordaunt spat at him.

"Your family are pureblood fanatics, they don't reserve respect and neither do you." Rick countered, his voice rising but not enough to drown out the sound of boiling cauldrons and attract Selwyn's attention.

"At least I have a family." Mordaunt sneered, pulling out all the stops. "Though I hear yours wasn't much to be proud of, a bloodtraitor for a mother and a filthy muggle father. I wonder, do you miss them?"

"Shut up, Mordaunt." Rigel hissed.

"You sleep in the same dormitory Bailey, tell me, does he cry out for his mummy and daddy in the night?" That was as far as Mordaunt got before Rick's fist made contact with his face, sending him sprawling to the ground. Rick didn't care it was the middle of class and Selwyn would surely punish him, he just wanted to hurt Mordaunt as much and as badly as he could.

"What is the meaning of this?" Selwyn bellowed as Rick sat on top of Mordaunt, punching every inch of the boy he could reach. The professor quickly interfered and with one flick of his wand, Rick found himself being magically pulled off Mordaunt. Rigel, Cedric and Terri caught him before he fell to the ground and restrained him before he lunged for Mordaunt again. Selwyn helped Mordaunt to his feet.

"Fighting is forbidden. Forty points from Gryffindor." The professor said sternly.

"But professor, Mordaunt was insulting Rick's family." Rigel tried to defend his friend.

"Nevertheless, rules are rules." Selwyn replied unmoved. Mordaunt grinned in triumph behind Selwyn's back, despite the bruises already forming on his face. Perhaps luckily, the bell rung to signal the end of class just then, preventing Rick from replying and as such, costing Gryffindor even more points. As it was, he just stormed out of class. He didn't wait for his friends, didn't even grab his things, he just marched out of the dungeon, up the stairs and headed straight for the abandoned classroom. He didn't heed his friends' calls, he just wanted to be alone. How did Mordaunt know all that about his family and his dependence on the school board? The answer was obvious of course, Mordaunt's father had told him. As a board member, he would know about the student they were sponsoring. The thought of Mordaunt and his father made Rick so angry, he imagined an old armchair in the corner of the abandoned classroom to be the Mordaunts and it exploded just by thinking about it. He was supposed to be heading for History of Magic but he couldn't care and instead spent the afternoon redecorating the abandoned classroom with debris. He didn't even need his wand, he was so angry at everything – his mom's death, her not telling him she was a witch, living with Mad Maggie, being poor - chairs and old desks were exploding or throwing themselves against walls of their own accord. By the time Rigel, Terri and Cedric found him that evening, Rick had managed to calm down somewhat. His friends looked a bit apprehensive as they wordlessly took their seats on the window ledge and a stray chair that had survived the destruction and took in the wrecked classroom.

"You missed History of Magic." Cedric pointed out.

"I can't imagine I missed much." Rick replied bitterly, keeping his gaze focussed on a broken chair. He didn't want to see the disappointed look in their eyes for not trusting them, or worse, pity.

"We told professor Creedon you weren't feeling well and went back to bed." Terri said and Rick turned around to face her. He was surprised to see she didn't regard him with pity and didn't seem to blame him either for not confiding in them. Neither did Cedric or Rigel when Rick faced them. He wondered what he'd done to deserve friends like that.

"I'm sorry." He said, not really knowing what exactly he was apologizing for, for troubling them by not doing homework, pushing Cedric away as their friend, dragging them into dangerous situations just to prove himself right. He supposed it was for everything he'd done wrong the last couple of months.

"Hey, Mordaunt was way out of line." Rigel assured him. "He deserved it."

"Exactly." Terri affirmed cheerfully. "And what's a few more points lost? I'd say it was worth it, we've long been out of the running for the House Cup anyway." Rick cracked a smile at Terri's reply.

"Thanks."

"If you need anything, let us know, alright?" Rigel offered, sounding more serious now. Rick couldn't resist to reply.

"Well, a brand new Cleansweep would be great." He said jokingly. Rigel narrowed his eyes.

"Don't push it."

236


	17. Suspect

SUSPECT

Chapter SEVENTEEN

Suspect

The Slytherins took pleasure in referencing to Rick's situation whenever they saw him and every time, it made Rick fume with anger.

"You shouldn't let them get to you." Terri advised one evening when they were practising spells in the abandoned classroom.

"Easier said than done." Rick muttered as he made a chair levitate so Cedric could copy him.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Cedric yelled, his face screwed up in concentration. The chair wobbled a few inches from the ground before dropping down again.

"Excellent." Rick said, checking Terri's watch. "I've got to run now but keep at it." He said.

"Where are you going?" Cedric asked.

"I want to see if Garron goes to the greenhouses tonight." Rick replied, already heading for the door.

"But what about my lesson?" Cedric asked.

"Tomorrow." Rick yelled back at him, already dashing trough the corridor. He went to his usual spot near greenhouse three where he had a good view of the Venomous Tentacula plants. If Garron came to harvest them, Rick would be there to catch him red-handed. So far, however, Garron had not turned up. Rick spent every spare moment he had surveying the greenhouse but he fully realized that he couldn't watch it all the time and he might miss the head boy. He was still working on a plan to catch Garron if he hadn't caught him by the time a Hogsmeade weekend came around. His surveillance more than once nearly caused him to be late for class and his homework suffered too but Rick wouldn't give up.

"There you are." Rigel said sounding relieved when Rick showed up for their Herbology class in greenhouse one just as the bell rung.

"I was-"

"Staking out the greenhouses, we know." Terri finished his explanation. "Come on, professor Harewell will be waiting."

Professor Harewell tasked them with getting rid of some Spiky Bushes – literally bushes with spikes growing out of them which they could shoot at humans – using the fire-making spell. It was an exciting class, they constantly had to pay attention and dodge spikes being hurled at them. Before long though, they had the spiky bushes under control. The class was just discussing the spiky bushes and exchanging tips for handling them when a knock announced the arrival of professor Griffiths into the greenhouse. The students fell quiet.

"I'm sorry for interrupting, professor Harewell but could I speak to O'Connell for a moment please?" All eyes turned to Rick, who wondered what in Merlin's name he had done to warrant pulling him out of class.

"No problem." Harewell replied. "O'Connell?" Rick stepped away from the table and followed Griffiths out the door and back into the castle.

"Do you know why I pulled you out of class?" Griffiths asked when he'd made sure they were alone. Rick shook his head. "I have a problem, O'Connell. Professor Selwyn's office was turned upside down and a witness saw you there. Care to explain?" Rick stared at his head of house dumb- folded.

"Obviously, your witness is mistaken, I haven't been anywhere near professor Selwyn's office." He said truthfully. Griffiths regarded him with a stern look.

"I understand professor Selwyn deducted forty points for your behaviour in class a few weeks ago?" He asked.

"Yes?" Rick replied, unsure where the professor was going with this.

"And you thought that fair? You didn't decide to take revenge for it?" Griffiths suggested. "I understand you were quite upset about it?"

"No!" Rick replied adamantly, but he could see Griffiths was hesitant to believe him. "Professor, I swear I didn't do it."

"Alright then, can anyone account for your whereabouts yesterday evening between six and seven?" Griffiths asked. Rick bit his lip. He'd been watching the greenhouse again yesterday evening for a sign of Garron, alone. He shook his head. For a moment, Griffiths regarded him with pity.

"Come with me." He instructed. Rick followed the professor silently through the castle and up several flights of stairs until they stopped at the stone gargoyle that was the passage to be Aldebourne's office. Griffiths gave the password (Screechsnap) and Rick followed the professor up the stairs.

"Enter." They heard the headmaster say when they knocked. Aldebourne was seated at his desk, bent over some paperwork. "Gideon, what brings you here?"

"Headmaster, I've brought O'Connell to see you." Griffiths replied.

"Ah, yes, thank you, professor." Griffiths bowed his head and left, leaving Rick alone with the headmaster.

"O'Connell, please, take a seat." Rick obliged and sat down on one of the chairs in front of Aldebourne's desk. "I trust you know why you're here?" Rick shook his head.

"You're here because someone saw you turning professor Selwyn's office upside down." Aldebourne explained.

"I already told professor Griffiths, I didn't do it." Rick replied. Aldebourne regarded him seriously.

"You already attacked a professor once." The headmaster observed.

"I know, but this time, I swear I had nothing to do with it." Rick replied, desperate for Aldebourne to believe him. The headmaster regarded him again, obviously trying to ascertain whether he spoke the truth or not.

"Do you have an alibi?" Aldebourne asked and Rick shook his head. "Professor Selwyn demands you be suspended." Aldebourne spoke up again after about a minute of silence. Rick opened his mouth to protest but the headmaster stopped him. "However, I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt and reduce your punishment to a detention."

"Detention? But I didn't do anything!" Rick replied indignantly.

"And that's your word against that of our witness, surely you understand our predicament?" Aldebourne countered.

"Who is this witness anyway?" Rick asked. "I'd like to have a chat with him about getting his eyes checked."

"I'm afraid the witness has requested to remain anonymous for fear of retribution." Aldebourne replied. "Now, I suggest you return to your common room and keep a low profile. I cannot promise I'll be able to help you out another time if you do anything foolish and rash again." Rick wanted to protest more but Aldebourne made it clear their conversation was over. He had made his decision and it was final so Rick did as he was told. He strolled back to the common room, still trying to make sense of what had just happened. Someone had obviously set him up, using his bad reputation against him and he needn't look far for a culprit. The more he thought about it, the more he became convinced it had to be Garron. Mordaunt would never be able to do this kind of thing but Garron must have learned of Mordaunt's suspicion that it was Rick who had broken in the Slytherin common room and the head boy must have realized he didn't do it just to put Bulbadox powder in the first years' beds. As head boy, Garron would of course have easier access to a professor's office and if he told a professor he'd seen Rick at the scene, off course they'd believe him. Rick cursed loudly. He should have taken the boy's threat more seriously.

"Excuse me?" The Fat Friar inquired indignantly. Rick ignored him and ran back to the common room. Rigel, Cedric and Terri were already back from class and were waiting for him. Rick told them what had happened.

"But who would lie to the professors like that?" Terri asked when Rick finished his story.

"It had to be someone who really hates Rick, he was nearly expelled." Cedric replied.

"It was Garron, of course." Rick said. "He said as much when I confronted him a few months ago. He said he would see me expelled if I persisted in proving he has the dragon ring. Mordaunt must have told him we broke into the Slytherin common room and he took revenge."

"It's quite clever, really." Terri pointed out. "He must have heard Selwyn deducted points from you. If he'd trashed any other teacher's office, he could not as easily have accused you of doing it." Cedric didn't look convinced.

"I don't know." He said. "Garron's head boy, why would he risk tossing a professor's office just to get back at you?"

"He's a Slytherin, he's capable of anything." Rigel replied.

"But why not just deduct points?" Cedric argued.

"Because he doesn't just want to punish me, he wants to see me expelled." Rick explained. "And I'll bet you as a head boy, it's not that difficult to get near a professor's office, he could just say he's patrolling a corridor if he'd get caught. I swear I'll get him back for this. First Hogsmeade weekend that comes up, I'll catch him red-handed."

By next morning, word had somehow leaked out that professor Selwyn's office had been trashed and that Rick was the prime suspect. Selwyn was livid Rick had gotten away with nothing more than a detention and he began deducting points from Gryffindor for the slightest offence or mistake, not only from Rick but from all Gryffindors. Needless to say, Rick's housemates blamed him and began to shun him once more. It wasn't just the Gryffindors either, the Slytherins, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs joined in as well. He had expected it from the Slytherins, Selwyn was their head of house after all but a lot of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaw hated Selwyn as much as the Gryffindors did. Apparently, though, they thought trashing the professor's office was a bridge too far. Rick was now about as popular at Hogwarts as he had been in Coakley. The only upside was here he had friends and they stuck with him and as long as they did, Rick didn't care what other people said or did. With people glaring at him or looking at him like he was a bomb that could go off every second everywhere he went, Rick divided his time mostly between the abandoned class room to study and stalking greenhouse three. He was now even more determined to expose Garron but unfortunately, he wasn't very successful. He still had yet to catch the head boy doing anything out of order. Friday evening, Rick was on his way back to the common room after Griffiths had caught him loitering near the greenhouses and sent him off when he bumped into Lewis.

"What are you doing here?" She greeted him with disdain.

"Walking." Rick replied smartly. Lewis' eyes narrowed.

"Off to play another trick on someone else?" She sneered. Rick had heard that joke only a dozen times before in the last few days.

"Give it a rest, Lewis. I'm not in the mood for your nagging." He said as he started up the stairs.

"My nagging?" Lewis repeated indignantly. "Well, I wasn't in the mood to have Gryffindor lose even more points because of your stupidity. How stupid and arrogant do you have to be to take revenge on a professor and let it lead straight back to you? Honestly, I don't see why Cedric keeps calling you his friend." Rick was just about to reply and give Lewis a piece of his mind when someone interrupted them.

"All those loud voices, what is the matter here?" Professor Creedon asked as he limped down the stairs, struggling to keep hold of two large books and stay upright at the same time.

"Nothing, professor, O'Connell and I were having a discussion." Lewis answered. "That looks heavy, professor, let me help you." Rick rolled his eyes as Creedon gladly took up Lewis on her offer and handed her the books.

"You really are a nice girl." Creedon replied. "O'Connell, you're not trying to hurt this nice girl, are you?" He looked down on Rick like he was some sort of filth on his boot. Rick didn't reply. "You know, if I had been headmaster, you'd have been expelled already." Creedon said disdainfully. Rick gritted his teeth. 'Well, it's a good thing you're not then, isn't it, senile old man.' He thought. Lewis and Creedon walked on towards the library while Rick proceeded up the stairs.

Rick's detention was to take place Saturday evening and to Rick's enormous relief, it was with professor Griffiths. He'd feared Selwyn would claim the honours and have him taking out spleens out of rats or something. Or maybe he would just want Rick alone so he could kill him and hide the body.

As expected, detention with Griffiths was far less exciting as the professor had him writing lines ('I must not break items belonging to others'). After what must have been two straight hours of writing, Rick's hand was cramping up and a knock on the door was a welcome distraction.

"Come in." Griffiths instructed and to Rick's surprise, Garron walked in. "Mr. Garron, is something the matter?" asked the professor, clearly oblivious as to what Garron was doing there.

"You wanted to see me, professor?" Garron replied with a glance at Rick.

"Ah, right, I forgot! Wait here a moment." Griffiths disappeared behind a side door, leaving Garron and Rick alone. Rick glared at Garron so hard, the head boy seemed to get uncomfortable.

"What?" He asked when he couldn't take it anymore.

"You know I'll get you back for this, don't you?" Rick snarled at him.

"Sorry?" Garron looked confused. A quick look at the side-door assured Rick that Griffiths wasn't coming back yet.

"You set me up, you tossed professor Selwyn's office and told everyone I did it."

"I haven't a clue what you're on about, I did nothing of the sort." Garron replied but Rick wasn't deterred. The head boy could act innocent all he wanted, Rick knew better.

"Who else could it be? You're scared because I know you have the ring and I'm going to prove it." The mention of the ring made Garron's feigned confusion make way for anger.

"I don't have that stupid ring so you can't prove anything so why would I be scared of you?" He hissed.

Before Rick could reply, professor Griffiths returned and both boys pretended like nothing had happened. With a look at Rick, the professor escorted Garron out of his office into the corridor. Rick could hear them talking in hushed voices coming but he couldn't make out what they were saying. Clearly, whatever they had to discuss, they didn't want him to hear it. Curiosity taking over, Rick got up and sneaked closer towards the door. Griffiths hadn't closed it entirely and Rick carefully peeked through the gap to see what was going on. Griffiths had a package in his hands and he was talking to Garron. Rick frowned, had Griffiths caught Garron with another package of Venomous Tentacula leaves?

"… same address as usual." Griffiths said handing over the package.

"But there is no Hogsmeade weekend coming up." Garron replied.

"There will be one soon." Griffiths replied unmoving.

"Why must I keep doing this? I was seen last time, Crusher and his mates, they saw me. This could hurt me." Garron sounded almost pleading.

"You just hold up your end of the bargain and I'll hold up mine." Griffiths replied sternly and he turned around to head back to his office, which Rick took as a good moment to get back to the desk as fast as his feet could carry him. He was writing furiously when the professor entered again. Griffiths kept him another few hours but Rick could not even feel the pain in his hand anymore. Griffiths and Garron were working together? What were they up to? What was in the package Griffiths gave Garron? Did it contain the same Venomous Tentacula leaves Crusher, Doolan and Hurst had seen Garron bring to Hogsmeade? And what was Griffiths doing for Garron in return for his courier service?

When Rick finally got back to common room, he was eager to discuss what he'd witnessed with his friends but he found the common room empty. He lay awake for a long while after he got to bed, pondering over what he had witnessed and what it all meant.

"What happened?" Rigel asked the following morning when his friend plonked down beside him at the Gryffindor table and viciously stabbed at a sausage. Rick wanted to tell what was on his mind but there were too many prying ears around to do it safely so he dismissed the question. Rigel shrugged.

"The news on the notice board must've cheered you up." He tried to cheer Rick up.

"What news?" Rick asked dumb folded. He hadn't even glanced at the notice board this morning.

"There's another Hogsmeade weekend in two weeks." Rigel answered with a grin.

"It's no use." Rick replied dejectedly. Rigel looked dumb-folded.

"No use?" His friend repeated, puzzled by Rick's sudden change of opinion. "This is our chance to prove Garron's guilt?!" Rigel's exclamation attracted a few curious glances.

"I'll tell you later." Rick muttered, noticing Lewis sitting not that far away from them and looking at them inquiringly. "Come on." Rick dragged his friend out of the Great Hall and went in search of Terri and Cedric to talk about what had happened last night. They found them in the common room and convinced them to head for the abandoned classroom where Rick told them what he'd seen and heard without fear of being overheard.

"What was in the package?" Was Terri's first question when Rick had finished his story. Rick shrugged.

"Do you suppose it were more Venomous Tentacula leaves?" Cedric suggested.

"I can't imagine what else it could have been." Rick admitted. "Garron was talking about Hogsmeade weekends and complaining about being seen by Crusher."

"We always thought Garron was selling the leaves to get enough money to buy the ingredients for some dark ritual or something. Now it seems he's selling them for Griffiths, why?" Terri inquired.

"For the money?" Cedric suggested.

"Griffiths did say he had a scheme to repay Purcell." Rigel recalled.

"But Purcell's on the run." Terri said. "Why would Griffiths still be looking for money to pay off his debt?" Rigel shrugged.

"He must believe that Purcell will get away." He said. "That, or he's looking to make some extra cash."

"I just don't understand why Griffiths would be working with Garron of all people? Why doesn't he just go himself?" Rick asked.

"Well, it's still dealing in illegal items, isn't it? He probably doesn't want to risk being caught himself." Cedric pointed out.

"But why Garron? Why not ask a Gryffindor?" Rick persisted.

"Because he's a Slytherin, of course, they're used to doing illegal stuff." Rigel answered.

"Maybe." Rick consented but he wasn't completely convinced. "Griffiths said if Garron did his part, he would keep his end of the deal. I just want to know what Griffiths has that Garron wants so bad that he'd do illegal things for it."

"Do you suppose…" Cedric started, looking unsure. "Griffiths caught Garron with the ring after all?"

"What do you mean?" Rick asked, not really sure where Cedric was heading.

"What if Griffiths caught Garron with the ring and is now blackmailing Garron about it?" Their friend explained.

"Come off it, Griffiths blackmailing Garron?" Rigel reacted but Rick didn't think it such a preposterous suggestion.

"That would explain why we didn't find it in the Slytherin common room." He said. "And Garron did look pretty reluctant to accept the package. Whatever deal they made, he definitely got the worst end of it."

"But if Griffiths confiscated the ring, what is he planning on doing with it?" Cedric asked.

"I don't know." Rick confessed. "The question is, does he still have it?"

"Are you suggesting we try breaking into Griffiths' office and have a look around?" Rigel asked. The suggestion caused Cedric to pale.

"No, we shouldn't risk losing more points and what's more, Rick's already on his last chance. If we get caught, he'll be expelled for sure." He argued but Rigel's suggestion made Rick think of something.

"Rydell!" Rick exclaimed.

"What?! Where!?" Cedric exclaimed in surprise, looking around for the Slytherin girl.

"No, Rydell and her friends tried to break into Griffiths' office, didn't they? They must have believed Griffiths had the ring."

"But as I recall, they didn't find it either, did they?" Rigel wondered.

"No, they didn't, which must mean Griffiths was either hiding it someplace else or had already gotten rid of it."

"How? He certainly didn't give it to Cormac." Terri asked.

"By selling it?" Rick suggested. It was the only explanation that made sense to him. Griffiths wouldn't have wanted to use the ring, keeping it would only put him more at risk, turning it over to Cormac and the ministry would have gotten him no reward but by selling it, he could pay off a large debt or part of it at least.

"He could have sold it to Purcell!" Rigel exclaimed. The other three nodded in agreement.

"So what do we do about it? Do we tell someone?" Terri voiced the question they were all thinking.

"Why?" Rick replied. "The ring is gone and at the end of the day, the only thing we have a hope of proving is that Griffiths is selling the leaves to pay off his debt. If we tell someone, it's him who'll they arrest." If it had been Selwyn, Rick wouldn't have doubted turning him over to Cormac but professor Griffiths was their most agreeable professor and their head of house. He never gave homework and his classes were almost always fun and amusing. At least Griffiths took the ring away from Garron, who could blame him if he wanted to get some profit out of the matter for himself? He said as much to his friends.

"It does mean we can't catch Garron anymore either." Rigel pointed out.

"I know." Rick said bitterly. He'd gone over it in his head again and again but there was no way to accuse Garron of this without implicating Griffiths. They would have to find another way of incriminating the head boy.

"Well, at least the ring's gone so we don't have to worry about it anymore." Cedric sounded pleased. "Perhaps now we can focus on school again? The exams are getting closer, you know."

Cedric was right and their professors obviously believed the same. They insisted on giving them more homework and tests than ever, warning them the exams were upon them and it was imperative they started preparing for them early.

"But the exams are weeks away!" Terri had complained to professor Rowlett when she gave them yet another paper to write in preparation for their exam.

"So you should already have begun studying and a little extra homework will help you master the material more fully." Terri gave Rick and Rigel an incredulous look, which both boys returned. The other teachers seemed to share Rowlett's belief. Only professor Griffiths seemed to understand their plight and refrained from giving extra work, which all students were grateful for. Cedric was one of the few who took the professors seriously and he had already gone through the trouble of making up study schedules for himself and his friends, not that any of them were keeping to them, despite Cedric's encouragement. They had so many papers to write, they barely had time to relax, let alone study for the exams or follow Garron around in hopes he did something illegal. All of this meant the Easter holidays were not nearly as much fun as the Christmas holidays. With that much work, Cedric became something of a slave driver, forcing them to remain inside to finish their essays and practise their wand work for the exams while the sun shone pleasantly outside. Rick didn't like that one bit and in revenge transfigured all of Cedric's quills into blunt feathers. Poor Cedric spent an hour sharpening them again while Rick, Terri and Rigel escaped to go flying. Cedric wasn't amused with their joke.

"Come on, Ced, we already said we were sorry." Terri pleaded as they made their way to supper that evening.

"Come on, Ced, you were keeping us hostage and the sky just beckoned us to take flight." Rick tried to justify their action.

"You can forgive us for wanting to have some fun, can't you, it's the last day of the Easter break?" Rigel added for good measure. They could see Cedric already yielding.

"Fine." He said. "You're incorrigible, you know that?"

"But that's why you like us, isn't it?" Rick said grinning. Their banter was interrupted at the sight of hundreds of owls flying out of the Hall.

"Didn't the mail already arrive today?" Terri asked, a little confused.

"It did." Rigel answered. "Must be something special." They took their seats at the table.

"Did you hear?" Saunders came up to them excitedly, apparently forgotten that he wasn't speaking to Rick anymore since the incident with Selwyn's office. "They arrested Purcell." He informed them. "They think he killed that shopkeeper a few months ago." Rick, Rigel, Terri and Cedric looked at each other but waited until Saunders had left before saying something.

"How do you suppose Griffiths will feel about this?" Terri asked.

"Judging by his reaction to when they identified Purcell, not well." Rigel replied.

Judging by the professor's behaviour in class the next day, Griffiths did seem quite disturbed by the news. He started their class talking about something they'd gone over two classes ago and he kept throwing nervous glances at the door. When the bell signalled the end of class, they were all happy to get away from the nervous tension surrounding their professor.

"If this keeps up, he'll have a nervous breakdown soon." Terri said as they made their way to the Great Hall for lunch.

"He's obviously afraid of what Purcell might say to the Aurors." Rigel said wisely.

"I don't get it, Griffiths' dealing must be the Aurors' least concern, they suspect Purcell of murdering Doge for Merlin's sake." Rick replied.

"Unless of course, Griffiths was indeed stupid enough to sell or give the ring to Purcell to pay off his debt and Purcell tells the aurors, in which case, Griffiths is toast." Rigel remarked. The four friends looked at each other ominously. That sounded exactly like what had probably happened.

"Well, there's not much we can do about it, we'll just have to hope Purcell doesn't have anything incriminating on Griffiths and wait to see what happens." Terri concluded.

They did not need to wait long for an answer. The next day, Rick, Rigel, Cedric and Terri were returning from Herbology when they spotted a large crowd assembling in the Entrance Hall.

"What's that about?" Rigel asked. They moved in closer to have a look when the crowd dispersed to let someone through. It was Cormac, followed by two wizards wearing badges that said 'Magical Law Enforcement Patrol' flanking professor Griffiths and escorting him outside.

"Mr. Cormac, what are you doing with professor Griffiths?" Rick asked Cormac as they passed.

"We're just taking him in for some questioning, that's all." Cormac replied coldly.

"Questioning? What about?" Rigel asked.

"Nothing to worry yourself about." Cormac dismissed them but the boys weren't that easily deterred.

"Is it about something Purcell said?" Rigel asked, lowering his voice somewhat so the other students wouldn't hear. Cormac stopped and looked at Rigel intriguingly.

"What do you know about that?" He asked.

"Nothing much, it's just a rumour." Rick quickly answered before Rigel could reply. He could tell Cormac didn't completely believe him.

"If you know something more, let me know, it may help." He implored them.

"Don't worry, we will." Rick quickly assured him. Cormac held his stare for a moment longer before walking away to catch up with the two warlocks and Griffiths.

"Don't you think we should have said something?" Cedric asked as they watched the three men escorting Griffiths off the grounds.

"Say what?" Rick replied. "Anything we could say would only get Griffiths into more trouble."

251


	18. Examinations and Interrogations

EXAMINATIONS AND INTERROGATIONS

Chapter EIGHTEEN

Examinations and Interrogations

A few hours after Griffiths was arrested, wizards from the Ministry of Magic came to search Griffiths' chambers. Rick, Rigel, Cedric and Terri remained close, trying to see if they found something but it was quite futile. The investigators kept everyone at a distance and left again after about two hours, not giving any indication whether they'd found something or not.

"Do you think they were looking for the ring?" Rick asked his friends when they returned to the common room.

"Possibly." Rigel replied. "Or perhaps they were just checking if Griffiths had any other illegal items to trade?"

"Do you think they'll let Griffiths come back soon?" Terri asked.

"It depends what they're accusing him of and what Aldebourne has to say about it, I suppose." Cedric answered.

"Shame, I kind of liked him, he never gave us much homework." Rigel responded.

"I know, me too." Rick concurred.

The answer to their questions came the next morning when the morning Prophet arrived. Griffiths' arrest was front page news in an article that caused much commotion in the Great Hall.

 **Hogwarts Professor arrested in relation to Doge murder.**

Hogwarts professor Gideon Griffiths was arrested yesterday afternoon for his involvement in the murder of Alphard Doge. The arrest came after Vincent Purcell was interrogated by aurors for attempting to break into Doge's shop. Ministry officials have declared that Griffiths' name came up during the interrogation and that the man in question was taken in for questioning immediately. The Ministry would also like to assure the public that the murder seems to have nothing to do with the attempted theft of a dark object as was first thought and more to do with gambling. Gideon Griffiths, a man with a history of gambling is rumoured to have had a dispute with the late Alphard Doge during a game of gambling the night Doge was murdered. For the moment, professor Griffiths continues to proclaim his innocence but Ministry officials have already declared that Griffiths will remain under arrest until he is cleared from all suspicion. Whether or not he will be able to return to his job teaching at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry remains the question. Headmaster Tiberius Aldebourne has already declared that he will postpone his decision until a verdict on Griffiths' guilt has fallen, However, sources have revealed Aldebourne has already received numerous complaints from parents demanding Griffiths' immediate dismissal.

"I guess that means Griffiths won't come back any time soon." Rigel said dejectedly.

"They suspect him of murdering Doge?" Terri said non-believing as she finished reading.

"I think it's safe to say he's pretty far up their list of suspects." Replied Rick bitterly. "This is rubbish. What happened to Purcell being the murderer? This murder has something to do with the ring and Garron, I'm sure of it." He argued passionately.

"But Garron couldn't have killed Doge." Cedric countered.

"Well, then maybe he and Purcell were working together and they're now trying to frame Griffiths?" Rick suggested. The other three looked sceptically at his theory.

"Even so, that doesn't explain why Purcell would have killed Doge if Garron already bought the ring from him." Cedric refuted it. "Griffiths' argument with Doge the night he was killed makes far more sense."

"Are you saying you believe Griffiths killed Doge?" Terri asked.

"No... maybe." Cedric replied. "I don't know what to think anymore!" Rick regarded his friend. He had a hard time believing that their head of house, the fun and jovial professor Griffiths had killed someone for money but he had to admit Cedric made a good case and he was sure the Ministry saw it the same way.

"Look, we don't know what happened so maybe it's time to let the professionals handle it?" Terri proposed. "I mean, the ring is not at Hogwarts anymore, we'll never be able to prove Garron had it, so I suggest we let the matter drop, agreed?" She asked and the others reluctantly agreed. Terri made a valid point and although they didn't like thinking Griffiths was guilty, it was no use arguing and speculating about it more. With Griffiths gone, professor Aldebourne took over their Charms classes until they could find a substitute teacher. It proved quite a change as Aldebourne didn't tolerate silliness in his class and gave them more work in one week than Griffiths had done in an entire year. Some students like Lewis and Cedric thought the change beneficial to them but for Rick, who'd always had trouble doing all his homework in time, felt it was a disastrous switch and he struggled more than ever to get through all his homework, even with Cedric's help.

Rick's mood didn't improve seeing Garron parading around the castle, having fun with his friends. It made Rick angry to think the head boy would get away with the part he played in the illegal trade scheme and he still wasn't convinced Garron didn't know more about what had happened the night Doge was killed. His friends all urged him to stop thinking about it and focus on studying but Rick couldn't let it go. He wanted to talk to the head boy about it but actually getting to Garron proved to be harder than he'd thought. As the exams drew ever closer, the head boy had holed himself up in his quarters and opportunities to corner him were rare. Moreover, Rick needed to think about his own exams and time to investigate became scarcer as the four friends spent more time studying. They began spending more and more time in the abandoned class room to practise and study. It was quieter and nicer there. If it had been up to Rick, he would pass up on studying all together, quite confident that his wand work would be good enough to make up for his poor theoretical exams. Cedric, however, would hear none of it. He made it his mission to help Rick understand the theory and in return, Rick agreed to help Cedric put the theory into practise. Rick had never studied as much in his life but he had to admit when the exams arrived, all that studying paid off.

He knew he wouldn't get a perfect score for the theoretical parts like Cedric would but at least he felt confident he did not fail because as expected, the practical exams went really well. In Herbology, Rick handled his Spiky bush with ease and managed to correctly answer how to defeat Devil's snare. He had no problems with Defence Against the Dark Arts either, his Verdimillious Charm was perfectly executed and he also answered the question about dark spells correctly, for the most part at least. Cedric too, had profited from the extra lessons as to his own surprise, he managed to perform a decent Verdimilious charm himself. Charms was next on their schedule. Professor Aldebourne had taken the trouble of overseeing the exam for the absent professor Griffiths and made each student perform a number of charms one by one. Rick smoothly made a pillow levitate and let a pear race across the classroom. Professor Aldebourne thanked him and without another word sent him off to let the next student in but Rick was pretty sure he'd nailed it. Tuesday afternoon was Magical Theory, one of the most difficult subjects since it involved no practical magic, only theory. Cedric had helped Rick, Terri and Rigel get through the material but as it was, the three friends agreed that they would be lucky if they passed. Cedric on the other hand, flew through the exam and complained about the little space he had to write down his answers. Rigel slapped him on the back of his head for his trouble.

On Wednesday, they had Transfiguration and Potions, two of the most difficult subjects. Rick effortlessly changed a mouse into a matchbox, unlike Cedric whose matchbox still had a tail and Terri's matchbox which still had whiskers, but he found the theoretical part particularly difficult. In the afternoon, Selwyn made them brew one of the most difficult potions they had seen that year, the Wiggenweld Potion. Rick's concoction was not as good as Rigel's but it was definitely not the worst. At least his cauldron didn't explode like McCallum's did. After the exam, Cedric convinced them to take a last look at their notes for their Astronomy exam that took place at midnight. It was a good thing they did because the exam was not easy. Professor Starsmeare had asked detailed questions about the constellations they had seen and about meteor showers. They finally got into bed around two in the morning, completely exhausted but happy in the knowledge that tomorrow it would all be over.

Their last exam was History of Magic on Thursday afternoon. It was a total disaster if you asked most of the students. Rick did not even know what half of the questions were about so he just made up some answers. After all, how could Creedon find fault with 'a woman' as an answer to 'Who was Cliodna?'? He was relieved to learn Terri and Rigel had found it equally difficult. Only Cedric had found it easy but that was no surprise. Their exam results would only be made known in another week so they didn't need to worry about them for now and decided to spend the remainder of the afternoon by the lake enjoying the sun and their regained freedom. The common room was quite boisterous that evening, with everyone enjoying their long missed free time. Cedric was reading a book for a change and Rigel and Terri were comparing their collections of Chocolate Frog cards. Rick watched, not having any cards himself, but for once the cards couldn't interest him.

"I want to have another crack at Garron." He said, making up his mind. His three friends looked up from what they were doing.

"Why?" Terri asked. Rick shrugged. 'Because I don't like his smug face' didn't seem like a reason he could convince them with.

"Because I want to know what he knows." He said. "And if we don't have a go at him now, we may never get the chance."

"You want to go tonight?" Rigel asked disbelievingly.

"Yes, tonight." Rick replied firmly.

"Do we have to?" Rigel almost whined. "I thought we'd agreed he no longer had the ring? I want to enjoy this evening by doing absolutely nothing."

"I was kind of looking forward to that as well." Terri agreed. Rick looked at Cedric and saw that he too was reluctant to confront Garron again.

"Fine, I'll go by myself. Any thoughts where I might find him?"

"You could try the library." Cedric suggested. "The seventh years aren't done yet with exams so I imagine he'll be studying." Rick nodded and headed for the portrait hole. "Just make sure you're back in time. First years aren't allowed to be out after nine!" Cedric called after him but Rick ignored him. The castle was eerily quiet as Rick made his way down the stairs towards the library. He didn't mind the silence, he was thinking about how to get Garron to confess. He was so preoccupied, he didn't see where he was going and bumped straight into Doolan.

"Careful there, troublemaker." The older boy said. Rick frowned at the nickname. "Where are you heading to anyway?"

"To find Garron." Rick replied. Doolon narrowed his eyes.

"Not off to accuse him again, are you?" He said jokingly. Rick chose not to dignify that with a response. Doolan's comment did give him an idea.

"That guy you saw in Hogsmeade trading a package with Garron, what did he look like?" He asked. Doolan looked taken aback at the unexpected question.

"Don't know, we never saw much of him." He replied and Rick's heart sank. "I do recall he seemed to have a rather large scar on his cheek, though." Rick had no doubt as to who Doolan was referring to and the realization made his heart skip a beat. He left the older boy alone in the corridor and dashed off to find Garron.

"You're welcome?!" Doolan yelled after him, looking confused. It didn't take Rick long to spot Garron in the library. He was sitting at one of the first tables, surrounded by books and notes and eagerly scribbling away on a piece of parchment. Rick joined him.

"Evening." He said quietly, not eager to draw the attention of Mr. Reed, the librarian, who would have him thrown out of there in a heartbeat if he caught them talking. Garron looked up and rolled his eyes when he saw who it was.

"What do you want?" He grumbled.

"Same as always." Rick replied happily, pleased to know he was getting on the head boy's nerves.

"For the last time, I don't have the dragon ring." Garron whispered furiously.

"Perhaps you're right." Rick replied. "Perhaps you sold it for Griffiths." Garron looked up, quite startled.

"What?" He asked.

"You two are working together, I saw you exchange a package that night I had detention with Griffiths."

"None of your business, I should say." Garron replied curtly but Rick saw he was on edge as he collected his notes and walked away. Rick followed him.

"What going on between you, Griffiths and Purcell?" He asked, almost jogging to keep up with the head boy.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Garron repeated but Rick wouldn't give up.

"Who killed Doge?"

"Leave me alone." Garron replied, now looking very nervous to learn what Rick all knew.

"I'll tell everyone you're working with Griffiths." Rick threathened. Garron snorted.

"And who would believe you?" He mocked.

"I have other witnesses. Crusher, Doolan and Hurst saw you trade a parcel of Venomous Tentacula leaves in Hogsmeade with Purcell." Rick replied. "You know that's illegal and that with a known criminal under investigation for Doge's murder? That doesn't look good." He grinned when he saw Garron's face turn ashen as he realised what Rick was saying was true. "If that would come out, your reputation will be ruined and you can kiss those dreams of becoming Minister for Magic goodbye."

"You've got some nerve, blackmailing a Head Boy." Garron hissed menacingly but Rick stood his ground.

"Your choice," he replied calmly. "Tell me what happened or by Merlin's beard, I'll make it my mission to destroy your reputation." He could see Garron struggling with the decision for a few seconds until he apparently realised he had no choice but to spill the beans.

"I suppose it doesn't matter much more anyway with Griffiths arrested." He said proudly. "I went to Griffiths earlier in the year, asking if he could write me a letter of recommendation. He agreed if I did him a favour once and a while."

"What kind of favour?" Rick asked, a little thrown off guard by the start of Garron's explanation.

"He needed money so he had me deliver packages of Venomous Tentacula leaves to Purcell in Hogsmeade."

"That's it?" Rick asked incredulously. "All that for a letter of recommendation?" Garron nodded.

"I got one from every other teacher, only Griffiths's was missing and as head of Gryffindor house, his is a valuable one, although I suppose looking at it now, my efforts were wasted. I always knew Griffiths wasn't a straight arrow but I never thought he'd be involved in a murder." Garron seemed to take pleasure in the fact Griffiths was accused of murder and Rick glared at him.

"What about the Dragon ring?" He asked. "I know you had it. Did Griffiths know about that?" He was pleased to see Garron's smug smile fall.

"Of course not, he never knew I had it and thank Merlin for that or he would have had more to blackmail me with." Garron exclaimed.

"But then, how did you get the ring and more important, what did you do with it?" Rick asked, not understanding.

"I bought the ring from Doge on the first Hogsmeade weekend." Garron began reluctantly. "I didn't know it was a dark object. When I found out, I got rid of it."

"When?" Rick asked.

"Months ago, just before you first accused me of having it." Garron replied.

"Why didn't you just come forward with it?"

"I'm Head Boy, I have good grades and a good reputation. My family isn't particularly influential so I'm counting on my reputation and grades to get a good post at the Ministry. If anyone found out I was involved with a dark object, you know what people will see? Another Slytherin who went bad, another Snake. Doesn't matter if it's wrong, my name will become synonymous with a dark wizard." He finished bitterly.

"What did you do with the ring?" Rick asked eagerly.

"I gave it to professor Creedon." Garron confessed.

"Creedon? Why?" Rick exclaimed in surprise.

"He was the one who told me it was a dark object and recognized my predicament. He offered to take it from me and never to speak of it. Hey, where are you going?" He yelled after Rick as the boy ran off. Rick ran straight back to the common room, his thoughts going a mile a minute. If Creedon had the ring all along, why had he not given it to Cormac like he said he would? What was he playing at?

"He cracked!" Rick announced gleefully when he rejoined his friends in the common room.

"Who did?" Rigel asked confused. He was lying on the couch by the fire looking bored.

"Garron, he cracked." Rick clarified.

"You're joking? What did he say?" Rigel asked, sitting up, interest in Rick's discovery.

"He said he gave the ring away as soon as he learned it was a dark object. He didn't know that's what it was when he bought it."

"Did he give it to Griffiths?" Cedric asked.

"No, Griffiths was just forcing Garron to pay off his debt to Purcell in exchange for a letter of recommendation. It was Creedon Garron gave the ring to.

"Creedon?!" Terri and Rigel repeated unbelievingly.

"But why didn't he come forward with it?" Cedric asked. "He's a professor, he could turn it in without ever telling anyone where he got it."

"I don't know, but I intend to ask him about it tomorrow." Rick vowed.

"You don't suppose he's planning anything bad with the ring, do you?" Cedric asked.

"I don't know. Why do you ask?"

"Lewis." Cedric answered.

"What about her?" Rick asked. He could not see why Cedric would think about Lewis at a time like this.

"She was summoned to Creedon's office, she said it was to talk about her exam." Cedric said.

"When was this?" Rick asked.

"Just about fifteen minutes or so ago, while you were out talking to Garron." Terri replied.

"You don't think he means to harm her, do you?" Cedric asked.

"I'm sure it's nothing, he probably wants to congratulate her on getting the highest score ever in Hogwarts history." Rick quipped spitefully.

"Maybe, but I don't trust it. Creedon could have handed over the ring to Cormac ages ago." Cedric said.

"That doesn't mean anything, he probably just forgot about it like he does everything else." Rick said.

"Yes, but what if Creedon plans to do something bad to Lewis with that ring?" Cedric voiced his concerns.

"That old senile man?" Rigel mocked. "He'd probably forget how to use his wand."

"I don't know, it's just strange he'd want to speak to Lewis alone, I did at least as well as she did on that exam."

"What? Are you jealous he didn't ask you to come?" Terri teased. Cedric ignored Terri's jab.

"Listen, we've been focussing on Garron for months, what if we should have been focussing on Creedon all this time? He's never shown any interest in his students so why would he suddenly want to talk to Lewis now? I'd just feel a whole lot better if we confronted him about it tonight and checked on Lewis. It couldn't hurt to visit Creedon's office tonight, could it?" He said.

"Alright, as long as you're not bothered by being out in the hallway after hours." Rick teased.

"Not at all." Cedric's reply set off warning bells in Rick's head. If Cedric wasn't bothered with going out after hours, he must really be worried.

"That's unnatural." He said. "Okay, if you're really that worried about Lewis, I guess we can go pay a visit to Creedon."

Hidden under Rigel's invisibility cloak they slowly made their way downstairs. It wasn't easy with the four of them under the cloak, space was really cramped and they had to be careful not to let their ankles show accidentally. They encountered a few older students who were heading back to their dormitories but none formed any problems. When they finally made it to Creedon's office, they took off the cloak and knocked on the door. Rick didn't have a clue what they were going to ask the professor, 'we just wanted to make sure you weren't killing a fellow student' seemed a bit much. However, he needn't have worried what professor Creedon would think because there was no answer. Rigel tried the door but found it locked. Rick got his wand out.

"Alohomora." The lock clicked immediately and Rick peered around the door to check if anyone was there. Finding the room empty, he swung open the door to let the others in. Rick had never been in Creedon's office but he found it quite boring looking, with bookcases full with books lined up against the walls, making it almost look like a small library. In the middle of the room was a large desk, on which lay a stack of parchment that looked like unmarked exams and a wand.

"This is Lewis's." Cedric remarked, examining the wand.

"The question is, where is she?" Rick asked. He was looking at the parchment on the desk. Would professor Creedon notice if he marked his own exam? He looked at the parchment Creedon had apparently been marking before he left. It wasn't an exam, it was a strange collection of symbols with a word of English written here and there between the lines.

"Runes." Cedric explained, looking over Rick's shoulder at the parchment. "I wonder what they mean."

"I don't know." Rick answered. "But I don't like what it says right here." He pointed to the last line where Creedon had apparently scribbled down 'sacrifice?' under it.

"Sacrifice?" Cedric asked alarmed. "You don't suppose he means to sacrifice Lewis, do you?"

"I don't know." Rick said but he was starting to feel rather anxious about the situation. Lewis wasn't one to just forget her wand and this note was making him uncomfortable.

"It would not be the first time a human sacrifice is required for some sort of dark magic ritual." Cedric said, visibly growing more concerned as well.

"Alright, where would such a ritual take place?" Rick asked, trying to keep his nerves at bay. Every second they were wasting here could mean Creedon getting closer to harming Lewis. As much as he disliked the girl, he couldn't let her get tortured or killed.

"I don't know, it depends on the type of ritual." Cedric replied.

"Maybe this can help us." Said Terri, holding up the parchment with the runes. In the top corner, there was another word of English. "See here, 'Draco'."

"So?"

"Well, it's written with a capital, meaning it's probably a name and what do we know is called Draco?" Rick shrugged, nothing rang a bell.

"The constellation!" Rigel cried out.

"Exactly." Terri confirmed.

"So what? The ritual is taking place in space?"

"Don't be daft." Terri admonished, not appreciating Rick's sarcastic response.

"Terri's right, you cannot go to a constellation, the individual stars are light years away from each other, that would be-"

"Cedric!" Rick and Rigel yelled in unison to stop the boy's ranting. Cedric blushed.

"Sorry. I think Terri meant to say we cannot go to space but we can get as close to it as we can." He explained.

"What does that mean?" Rick asked.

"The Astronomy tower, you dimwits." Terri answered exasperated. "It's the highest tower at Hogwarts, I'll bet you a galleon that's where Creedon has taken Lewis."

267


	19. The Ritual

THE RITUAL

Chapter NINETEEN

The Ritual

"Here's what we'll do." Rick said as they ran down the corridor. "Cedric, go find a teacher, the headmaster if you can. His office is on the second floor behind a stone gargoyle. The password should be 'Screechsnap'. Tell him to come to the Astronomy tower as soon as possible." Cedric nodded and ran off to the second floor.

"Terri, go to the owlery and write an emergency message to Cormac. Tell him that it's important and ask him to come immediately."

"What are you going to do?" Terri asked.

"Rigel and I will try to buy some time and hold off Creedon, at least try and stop him from hurting Lewis." Terri looked alarmed but nodded.

"Good luck guys." She said before she headed off on her missions. Rigel and Rick ran up the stairs towards the Astronomy tower as quickly as they could, hoping they were not too late.

"So, how exactly are we going to stop Creedon?" Rigel managed in between pants for breath.

"No idea." Rick answered, equally panting. "I just figure, we have the element of surprise, he doesn't know we're on to him." He said, more confidently than he felt as they ascended further up the stairs.

"Element of surprise." Rigel repeated weakly. "Yeah, it'll be a big surprise to me if we survive this." He muttered as he followed Rick.

"Sshh." Rick hushed him as they neared the top of the astronomy tower. He thought he had heard something. He tried to listen but heard nothing. Silently and carefully, the two boys proceeded and as they neared the top, Rick spotted a glow up ahead from the open door to the observation platform. He turned to Rigel, put his finger on his lips and pointed to the light. Rigel nodded and together they tiptoed towards it. As they got closer, Rick could hear a voice muttering in a strange language. With his heart throbbing in his throat, Rick chanced a glance from behind the doorpost to take in the platform.

There was a huge pyre in the centre of the room with flames that were easily six feet high. Porfessor Creedon was walking circles around it, his nose buried in an old book and muttering away in an incomprehensible language. Rick thought it must be some sort of spell or enchantment. His gaze fell on the professor's hand, even from this distance he could see the light of the flames catch on the Dragon Ring he was wearing. Lewis was standing a while off, seemingly not realizing what was going on and staring off into the distance as if in a trance. Rick turned back to Rigel.

"Creedon's up there and he's performing some sort of spell." He whispered. "Lewis is there as well. She's ... bewitched."

"Does he have the ring?" Rigel whispered back.

"Yes, it's on his finger." Rick replied.

"We need to find a way to get it." Rigel said.

"We also need to get Lewis out safely." Rick reminded his friend. "I just hope we're not too late, she doesn't look very well, we need to act quickly. Ok, listen, I'll distract Creedon, you get Lewis and get her out of there."

"What about you?" Rigel asked.

"I'll be fine." Rick said with a lot more confidence than he felt. "I'll be right behind you."

"Doesn't it seem quiet to you?" The moment Rigel said that, Rick realised that the chanting had stopped. He quickly turned around and peered around the doorpost again. Creedon was gone but Lewis still stood there. He turned back to Rigel.

"He's gone." He whispered and motioned for Rigel to come and take a look but when they looked onto the platform again, they suddenly came face to face with the professor.

"Well, well, who do we have here? Expelliarmus!" Their wands left their hands of their own accord and were handily caught by Creedon. The professor pointed his wand at the two boys. "Come on up. Now!" He commanded. He looked purposeful and not at all like the senile, old, forgetful professor they knew. Rick and Rigel could do nothing but obey. They ascended the last few steps to the top of the Astronomy tower.

"Incarcerous." Thick ropes shot from the tip of Creedon's wand and wound themselves around the boys's arms and legs, tying Rigel and Rick together, back to back.

"You coming here is most unfortunate." Creedon said. "Who else knows you're here?"

"Loads of people." Rick replied defiantly. "We told professors Lloyd and Rowlett, they'll be here any minute." Creedon chuckled.

"If you really told them, they would be here instead of you." He said. "How did you get onto me?"

"Garron told us about you and the ring." Rick said, trying to keep Creedon talking and hoping Cedric had found a professor by now. "We went to your office and found the clues that led us here."

"Impressive. I knew I should have obliviated that boy." Creedon admonished himself. "No matter, in a few minutes, you will witness Fáfnir bestowing his powers unto me and then nothing or no one will be able to stop me." Creedon said gleefully.

"Who?" Rick tried to keep the professor talking. Creedon laughed.

"You boys should pay more attention in my classes. Fáfnir was a great wizard on his way to world domination until his quest for power was stopped and his powers were locked inside his ring. This ring." He showed them the dragon ring on his hand.

"Why did you wait until tonight?" Rick asked, still trying to distract the professor. "Why not do this when you first got the ring?"

"I needed the meteor shower." Creedon explained, pointing to the sky where Rick could see some falling stars. "Didn't professor Starsmeare explain to you that certain stellar events can influence magic?"

"She might have said something on the subject but to be honest, I wasn't really that interested." Rick answered smartly.

"You should have been." Creedon answered. "Soon the meteor shower will reach the optimal intensity required for the ritual, Fáfnir's powers will be unlocked and I will become the most powerful wizard alive."

"You'll never get away with it." Rick said, furiously hoping Cedric and Terri would be here soon.

"My dear boy, I already am. I've been preparing for this for nearly twelve years and you will be the first to experience my power." The professor turned back to the fire, whose flames were getting bigger and bigger, shadows of dragons lurking in them.

"This is it." Creedon said. "The meteor shower is almost at its peak." He tilted his head towards the sky, spread his arms and began to speak in the strange language of before again. Rick could not understand what he was saying but he doubted it boded well for them or Lewis. He pulled at the ropes that bound him but they were too tight, he could not get free.

"So why did you kill the shopkeeper?" Rick asked. If he could just keep Creedon busy a little longer, he was positive Terri and Cedric would get here soon with help but Creedon did not heed his question.

"Ah! It's time." He said. The flames grew even larger as the meteor shower became more intense. It was almost beautiful to watch if it didn't mean they were going to die soon. Creedon moved to Lewis and Rick and Rigel grew desperate.

"No wait!" Rick yelled.

"You can't!" Rigel shouted desperately but the professor did not pay them any notice. Pointing his wand at Lewis, he muttered something and the girl walked towards the fire off her own accord with black eyes staring straight ahead of her, as if she didn't even see she was about to walk into a fire.

"Lewis, stop!" Rick yelled but the girl did not seem to hear him. Rick looked to Rigel for help but his friend had the same panicked look in his eyes as he too surely had. Lewis was almost by the fire now. Rick struggled with all his might against the ropes tying him.

"No!" He yelled desperately. He needed to do something or Lewis would die. If only he had his wand. It was just lying there where Creedon had tossed it aside. The thought gave him an idea. He could get his wand. If he could make pies hover towards him without a wand, maybe he could make his wand hover towards him. He focussed his gaze on the wooden stick and tried to will it to fly towards him. It was hard to focus with Lewis on the verge of getting a really good tan but slowly, his wand twitched and started crawling towards him.

"Snap out of it Lewis!" Rigel yelled. The desperate tone in Rigel's voice did not sound very good. 'Come on, come here' Rick thought and suddenly, his wand whizzed through the air and landed in his hand.

"Diffindo." He whispered and the ropes tying them tore apart. Rigel and Rick ran towards the fire where Creedon was chanting once more and Lewis was about to toss herself onto the pyre.

"Incendio!" The flaming jet sprung from Rick's wand and blew Creedon off his feet while Rigel tackled Lewis to the ground away from the fire.

"No!" Creedon yelled. "I will not have you ruin the ritual!" He aimed a curse at Rick, who only narrowly managed to dodge it. It hit the ramparts behind him, tearing a large hole in it and showering Rick with pieces of stone and dust.

"Rigel, take Lewis and get out!" Rick yelled to his friend as he sent another flaming jet towards Creedon who easily blocked it. Rick realised he was greatly outmatched and the chance that he could win this was next to zero. Luckily, this was not about winning, he only needed to hold out until the cavalry arrived. Another curse had him diving to the floor for cover. He felt his head hit the stone floor and for a moment his vision blurred. He shook his head to clear the black spots dancing in front of his eyes and saw Rigel dragging Lewis to safety out of the corner of his eye. Creedon saw it too and directed a spell at Lewis that hit her full in the chest. Immediately, Lewis was actively fighting her saviour, trying to get back to the pyre while Rigel tried to hold her back. Rick realised his friend wouldn't be able to hold the girl for much longer. Rick looked back to Creedon who was looking intensely at Rigel and Lewis and he understood what he needed to do.

"Incendio!" He bellowed, pointing his wand at the professor again. Creedon jumped out of the way and in doing so lost eye contact with Lewis. Immediately, the girl stopped fighting Rigel and he could safely drag her away from the fire. Rick continued firing curses at Creedon, keeping him distracted and occupied. Creedon fired back and Rick had to dodge and swirl to keep from getting hit. They circled round the pyre, whose flames were getting bigger and were starting to flare out, as if the fire was getting angry.

"You may have saved your friends, O'Connell, but who will save you?" Creedon sneered. "Expelliarmus!" Rick's wand flew out of his hand for the second time that evening. "Lewis was probably the better choice but it looks like you just volunteered to take her place." Rick felt panic rise in his chest as the professor pointed his wand at him, ready to curse him the same way he had Lewis and Rick knew what would happen, he would become a mindless puppet as well.

"Periculum!" Red sparks hit Creedon in the face, distracting him and making him back off in pain and surprise. Looking for the source of the sparks, Rick saw Rigel standing in the doorway, his wand still pointed at his opponent. He flashed a smile at Rick. "Couldn't let you have all the fun now, could I?"

Rick's relief was short-lived as Creedon fired another disarming spell at his friend so powerful that it tossed Rigel across the platform like a ragdoll and smacked him against the ramparts. Rigel did not move again. Wandless but not ready to surrender, Rick threw himself at Creedon, intending to wrestle the teacher to the ground. His action - although brave - was foolish. Creedon was far stronger than him and after a brief struggle, the older man's hand found its way to Rick's throat and began to squeeze, making the boy gasp for breath.

"Foolish boy. Did you really think you could beat me?" He turned Rick around in a chokehold and made him face the fire. "Now you'll pay for your foolishness." The flames were getting bigger, flares lashing out at them. Rick tried to struggle out of Creedon's hold but it was futile, he could already feel the heat of the flames on his face. He lost the strength to fight as Creedon squeezed tighter and he was gasping for breath. The pyre was getting closer and closer. The professor was going to burn him and get his powers. Only three feet were now left between between them and the fire when the flames suddenly shot up in the air, almost twenty feet high. Rick was too oxygen deprived to care but judging by the professor's reaction, this was not supposed to happen.

"What…?" He stuttered, and Rick could hear fear in his voice. Creedon's hold on Rick tightened as he stumbled backwards, dragging his student with him.

"What's hap...?" Creedon started but he never got to finish his sentence because the next moment, the fire lashed out at them. Rick, close to losing consciousness by now, closed his eyes when the flames reached for them. He was going to die. Something warm touched his cheek, it was almost pleasant and at the same time, the pressure around his neck lessened. Professor Creedon was screaming. Rick dropped to the floor, gasping for air. He wasn't dead, at least, he didn't feel dead. He could still hear someone screaming. Coughing and still panting heavily, he managed to lift his head to see what was going on. Creedon was gone, replaced by a giant fireball, his screams of agony echoing through the otherwise quiet night sky. It was horrifying to watch as the fire, seemingly alive, lifted Creedon into the air and dragged him to the pyre. Rick could do nothing but look on, horrified but at the same time, oddly entranced.

When the life-size fireball that was Creedon reached the pyre, the screaming finally stopped. The fire began to shrink and as the flames quickly died out, Rick felt almost relieved. He was still alive, Lewis was saved and Creedon was dead. Rick watched as the last of the flames went out, relieved that it was over and the ritual had failed. The last embers died out and Rick had just got back on his feet to check on Rigel when the pyre suddenly exploded and he was thrown against the ramparts by the blast and everything went dark.

The first thing he became aware of was the throbbing ache in his head. He could not quite remember how he had gotten it and he wished it would go away. What was going on? Where was he? The ground under him felt soft and warm and the smell of burnt flesh no longer hung in his nose. Wait, why would he smell that? The question brought it all back, the ring, the ritual, he and Rigel fighting Creedon to save Lewis, Creedon consumed by the flames ... Rigel! What had happened to him? Rick opened his eyes but the bright light blinded him and he blinked furiously. He tried to block out the sun but his arm felt strangely heavy and thick. Looking at it, he saw that it was wrapped in bandages.

"Hey, welcome back." The voice was very familiar and Rick turned his head to see Rigel lying in the bed next to him, lazily chewing on some Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. They were in the infirmary.

"How long was I unconscious?" Rick asked.

"About a day. Everyone is dying to talk to you, to find out what happened. I told them all I knew but I don't remember anything after I fired that spell at Creedon. I lost consciousness, I think."

"Yeah, you've got Creedon to thank for that."

"Bastard. Where is he anyway? Did he get away?"

"No." Rick replied. "He's dead. The flames got him."

"He fell into the pyre himself?"

"No, he didn't fall. He was trying to push me into the flames and then..." Rick tried to find the words to explain. "It's difficult to explain, the flames burned him and he let me go and then, they went for him and... dragged him to the pyre."

"The flames ... _dragged_ him?" Rigel said sceptically.

"I know it sounds weird but that was not a normal fire."

"Maybe it was cursed fire? I know it exists, I heard my dad talk about it once."

"I think you may be right." Rick replied. "I wonder why it didn't come after me, though. I mean, he conjured it and I was closest to the fire. Why wasn't I consumed by it?" Rigel shrugged.

"Maybe you just got lucky? Or maybe the flames had a bigger appetite then your scrawny little body could offer." He added with a grin.

"Funny." Rick replied sarcastically.

"I thought so." Rigel said, pleased with himself. There was a short silence.

"Thanks, by the way." Rick said. "For having my back on the Astronomy tower."

"You're welcome." His friend replied. "I'll gladly accept a 'friend of the year' award and some chocolate frogs as reward." Rick laughed.

"Nice to hear you're still your usual self."

"Yes, madame Sangster says that's an illness she can't cure me of, much as she would like to." Rick laughed.

"Have you seen Cedric and Terri?" He asked when they sobered up again.

"Yeah, they came by a couple of hours ago, brought me these." He indicated the box of Every Flavour Beans he was eating. "You know, being in the hospital wing has its advantages. We should do more of this dangerous stuff."

"Where's Lewis, by the way?" Rick asked, looking around to the other beds but the redhead wasn't there.

"She's fine. Cedric told me madame Sangster looked her over and discharged her. She's been under a spell but she won't experience any effects from it anymore. Lewis says she doesn't remember anything after talking to Creedon in his office, which I'm very glad of because that means she also doesn't remember I'm the one responsible for the huge bump on her head from when I tackled her." Rick chuckled.

Their chatting must have alerted the school nurse, Madame Sangster, because she came in just then to fuss over Rick. She tried to give him a sleeping draft but Rick refused it, insisting he was feeling better and thankfully, madame Sangster relented and went back to her office, muttering under her breath.

"Psst, is it safe?" A voice came from the other side of the infirmary.

"Come on in." Rigel answered and from behind the door, Terri cautiously entered the infirmary, followed by an anxious looking Cedric.

"Thank Merlin, that bloody Nazi wouldn't let us in before." Terri said referring to madame Sangster. She sat down at the end of Rick's bed. "How are you feeling?" She asked him.

"Fine." Rick replied. "You?"

"We're fine." Cedric answered. "What happened with Creedon?" Rick quickly related his version of the events on top of the Astronomy tower and Cedric and Terri listened intensely.

"The fire was alive?" Terri repeated, as sceptically as Rigel had before.

"I've heard of cursed fire." Cedric said. "It's supposed to be really hard to conjure and control. You're really lucky to be alive."

"I know." Rick replied, not really wanting to think too much about what could have happened if things had played out differently. Creedon's screams were still very fresh in his memory. "How did you get on, did you manage to contact Cormac?" He asked instead. Terri nodded and Cedric explained how he had found professor Harewell and how they had gone to see the headmaster to explain what was going on. They'd headed for the Astronomy tower as soon as possible and had found Lewis there, confused and disoriented saying that Creedon had asked her to come to his office to discuss her exam.

"You could tell Aldebourne was quite worried, he flew up the stairs and found you two unconscious. He sent me to wake up Madame Sangster while he and Harewell brought you two down to the infirmary."

"That's when I met Cedric in the hallway." Terri jumped in. "Cormac arrived not much later. He immediately asked what had happened, he seemed to know it had something to do with the ring."

"Cormac did suspect it was at Hogwarts." Rick remembered.

"What happened to the ring anyway?" Cedric asked.

"No idea." Rick replied truthfully. "It probably went up in flames with Creedon." At that moment, madame Sangster came in again.

"Out, out, everyone who's not a patient, out." She commanded, shooing Terri and Cedric out. "This boy needs rest."

"Oh, come on, madame Sangster, let them stay a while longer." Rick pleaded.

"Absolutely not. The headmaster and Mr. Cormac both want to speak to you and that will be tiring enough." The nurse said.

"We'll come back later." Terri promised and she and Cedric made themselves scarce.

"You can go as well, Mr. Bailey." Madame Sangster said. "You've recovered well and would only tire out Mr. O'Connell." Reluctantly, Rigel began to change into his robes again but he drew it out as much as possible so he could keep Rick company a little while longer. They were just joking around with the Every Flavoured Beans when a most unexpected visitor showed up.

"Hi, how are you doing?" Garron inquired as he came up to Rick's bed. Rick and Rigel stared at him dumb-folded.

"Fine." Rick answered, not really understanding why Garron was here. "I didn't expect to see you here?" The head boy looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Can I talk to you? In private?" The two friends looked at him questionably but when he didn't continue, Rigel assented.

"Fine, I'll just be outside in the hall." He said and he left, throwing a curious glance at Garron over his shoulder.

"I heard Cormac is on his way to ask you what happened, I wanted to ask if maybe you could keep my name out of it." Garron started when he'd made sure they were alone.

"And why would I do that?" Rick asked annoyed. Garron had caused him nothing but trouble the entire year and now he had the guts to ask Rick to lie for him? Garron looked anxious.

"I helped you with that information. Without it, your friend would have died." He tried to argue.

"If you hadn't kept it to yourself all this time, she would never have been in danger in the first place." Rick countered, annoyed and angry Garron was trying to justify his actions.

"I'm appealing to your compassion." The head boy pleaded. "If anyone finds out I was involved with a dark object that nearly led to the death of three first year students, I can kiss my career goodbye."

"So instead of coming clean, you want to hush it all up?" Rick stated bluntly.

"If people knew, they would always be distrustful of me, certainly in the current climate." Rick understood what Garron was saying and he was probably right but that didn't change the fact that the head boy nearly got them all killed. He shouldn't get away without punishment, even if he'd had no sinister intentions.

"I don't know," Rick answered deviously. "I have a bad tendency to run my mouth but I think some compensation should help me forget you had anything to do with it." Garron nodded in understanding.

"I could spare five galleons for your silence."

"Ten." Rick countered firmly. Garron seemed hesitant but nodded after a few seconds and handed over his purse before hastily exiting the hospital wing. Mere minutes later, another guest presented himself.

"Good afternoon, Mr. O'Connell." Cormac greeted him. "How are you doing?"

"Fine, thanks." Rick replied rather coldly. He still hadn't forgotten how Cormac had written him off as a liar and attention-seeker.

"I want to thank you and congratulate you, Mr. O'Connell." Cormac continued. "I'm impressed with how you managed to fight off Creedon." Rick didn't reply. "If you feel up to it, I'd like for you to tell me what happened." Rick had half a mind to say 'Oh, so now you're interested in what I have to say?' but he put his hurt feelings aside and told Cormac everything he knew, leaving out Garron as he had promised. He ended up giving the impression they had just happened to decide to break into Creedon's office that night. Luckily, though, Cormac didn't seem to be interested in that part of the story, he was more interested in the ritual itself.

"Interesting." Cormac said when Rick mentioned the life-like fire. "You are lucky to get out alive. Why do you think the flames went for Creedon instead of you?" Rick shrugged.

"I don't know." He replied truthfully. "Do you know why?"

"I know a few things about dark magic, it's inevitable in my line of work but I'm afraid I cannot help you either. A lot of things are still unknown about magic. It could be a fluke or perhaps Creedon did something wrong. Either way, you are lucky to still be alive." Cormac said and Rick nodded.

"Sir, what happened to the ring?" He asked.

"It seems it was destroyed by the fire." Cormac answered.

"Creedon said the ring would give him dragon powers. Is that true?" Rick asked, still thinking of Creedon's screams as he was being burned alive.

"I do believe the ring and the ritual were designed to give the user more power." Cormac said. "I've been trying to locate that ring for a while, ever since I learned that it could kill people. I wanted to make sure it would harm no one else and I managed to trace it to Mr. Doge in Hogsmeade. I meant to go talk to him about it but unfortunately, I was too late, he was dead before I got the chance. I doubt he even knew what the ring really was but anyway, it vanished once more and I inserted myself into the investigation trying to find it."

"What made you think it was at Hogwarts?" Rick asked.

"The wife confirmed Doge had recently acquired the ring but she could not recollect if he'd sold it or if it had been taken. I knew many Hogwarts students and staff had visited recently and I thought perhaps someone had spotted the ring and returned later to steal it, probably killing Doge because he caught them. A dark object at a school could be very dangerous so I came to investigate but after a month of no new leads, I started to look elsewhere." Rick nodded.

"You thought professor Griffiths had something to do with it." He said. Cormac nodded.

"Purcell told us Doge, Griffiths and himself were involved in a gambling club and said that Doge owed Griffiths a lot of money. Of course, that turned out to be a dead end. We questioned Griffiths but he kept claiming he knew nothing about the ring or Doge's death."

"What'll happen to professor Griffiths now? Will he return to Hogwarts?" Rick asked.

"He has been released now but whether he returns to Hogwarts is up to professor Aldebourne and the school board to decide." Cormac replied. "I must say I underestimated Creedon, I never suspected it was he who took the ring and killed Doge." Rick felt a little uneasy. Creedon hadn't taken the ring, Garron had bought it so what if Creedon hadn't killed Doge and the real killer was still out there?

"What if it wasn't Creedon?" He ventured carefully. "What if he didn't take the ring but someone else bought it a few days earlier, not knowing what it was?"

"Then I imagine that when Creedon came looking for it in Doge's shop, he was pretty angry to discover it wasn't there anymore." Cormac replied.

"So he killed Doge out of anger?" Rick surmised.

"Possibly, or Doge caught him breaking into his shop. We'll probably never really know why." Cormac answered and Rick felt a little more at ease. Cormac's explanation made sense. "Why? Do you think someone else was involved?" Cormac looked intrigued.

"No, I was just speculating." Rick replied hastily. The older man didn't look convinced.

"Are you sure?" He asked. "I seem to recall you suspected Mr. Garron for a while?" On the one hand, Rick wanted nothing more than to tell on Garron, even if it was just so he could be proven right but on the other hand, there was the money he'd accepted from the head boy to keep silent. To betray him would probably serve Garron right but he had seemed genuinely sorry about his actions and in the end, had had no ill intentions and Rick could not bring himself to squeal on him.

"I'm sure." Rick replied. "Garron was right, I mistook his stupid snake ring for something else." He furiously hoped Cormac wouldn't notice Garron's bribe money still resting on the cabinet next to his bed.

"I am still curious though as to how you knew it was Creedon." Rick faltered briefly before he answered Cormac's question.

"I don't know, it was a gut feeling, I guess." He said but again, Cormac looked doubtful. "When Lewis got called to his office, we got suspicious and went to check it out. That's when we found the clues in his office that led us to the Astronomy Tower." Rick lied.

"I see." Cormac said, glancing at Garron's purse. Rick practically saw the gears working in his head, putting two and two together and Rick was sure he would call him out on it. "Well, I think it's clear Creedon was the one behind all this." Cormac said and for a moment, Rick was stunned. "That girl Lewis was pretty lucky you were around to stop him. You're quite the extraordinary young wizard. I'll be keeping an eye on your career, I'm sure you'll make it far." Rick didn't know how to reply to that so he just nodded. "I have a feeling we will meet again. Until then, take care, Mr. O'Connell."

Cormac left and Rick quickly hid Garron's purse under his pillow. The ministry wizard must have had strong suspicions but he had chosen to accept Rick's version of the events instead of calling him out on them. Perhaps he wasn't that bad after all.

About ten minutes after Cormac had left, professor Aldebourne came to speak to him and Rick again had to relate everything that had happened on top of the Astronomy tower. As promised, he didn't mention Garron to the headmaster either and when he finished, professor Aldebourne regarded him with great interest.

"Did Creedon tell you where he got the ritual?" He asked. Rick shook his head.

"No, professor. Why?"

"That is an extremely rare ritual. Not many people know of its existence or of Fáfnir." Aldebourne explained.

"Where do you know it from?" Rick asked before he could stop himself. "Professor." He added awkwardly. He could see Aldebourne contemplating whether or not to tell him. He decided on the latter.

"That doesn't matter." The headmaster replied. "What matters is that you showed incredible bravery and saved the life of your fellow student. I think that deserves a few house points, don't you? Let's see, a hundred points each for you and your friends would do, I believe." Rick grinned, wait until his friends heard that. "I'm sure your parents would have been proud." Aldebourne said empathically. Rick nodded, he didn't trust his voice to reply. "Now, I must head back to my office, lots of work still awaits me, I'm afraid." As the headmaster made to leave, Rick asked the question that had been plaguing him the past couple of months.

"Professor? Did you know my mother, Angela Aplin? I know she attended this school." To his surprise, Aldebourne cracked a smile.

"I do remember her, she was quite a talented student." He replied.

"So she did go here? Do you know why she would have abandoned magic?"

"She abandoned magic?" Aldebourne seemed surprised to hear it. Rick nodded.

"I never knew she was a witch until I came here." He explained.

"I do not know why your mother would have chosen to do that but I'm sure whatever reason it was, she must have thought it was for the best." Rick frowned, he couldn't understand or accept that.

"How is abandoning magic and never telling your children for the best?" He asked, getting angry. Aldebourne looked at him compassionately, seemingly understanding what was troubling him.

"I don't know." He confessed. "But she must have had her reasons." Rick huffed. "Don't be too hard on your mother, Richard, she didn't have it easy." Aldebourne said. "Like yourself, she was an orphan who lost her only family relation at quite a young age. She did what she thought best." Rick nodded, even though he felt his questions remained unanswered. His mother's decisions still didn't make any sense to him so he asked the other question that was still on his mind.

"What will happen to professor Griffiths?" Aldebourne looked grave.

"After long consideration, I have decided to give professor Griffiths another chance. He has been put on probation and if he can keep out of trouble, he is welcome to stay on at Hogwarts on the condition he does not bet anymore." Rick nodded again, pleased to hear this. "Now I will leave you in the capable hands of Madame Sangster." Aldebourne declared, glancing over Rick's bed to see madame Sangster standing in the doorpost of her office, waiting for him to leave. Taking his cue, the headmaster left so she could fuss over her student again. Rick didn't mind, he felt quite exhausted from all the talking. Madame Sangster gave him a potion to keep the nightmares at bay and he slept better than he had in years.

After a full check-up, Rick was discharged the next day and spent the day with Rigel, Cedric and Terri by the lake, discussing the conversations Rick had had with Garron, Cormac and Aldebourne.

"So Creedon killed Doge? I would have never thought him capable of that." Terri said when Rick finished telling them about his conversation with Cormac.

"We were all misled by him, Lewis most of all." Rick said.

"Look on the bright side, though." Rigel said. "Now that Creedon's gone, he can't grade our exams and we can actually pass his class." The others laughed.

"Anyway, the whole school is buzzing with stories about what happened at the top of the Astronomy tower." Terri told them. "No one knows the specifics but they do know we were involved. I heard that Aldebourne has forbidden everyone to ask questions but somehow, most versions are still surprisingly accurate." She informed them chuckling.

Rick enjoyed the last few days at Hogwarts. It was a relief just being free to enjoy the nice weather with his friends. Aldebourne had awarded them 400 points for stopping Creedon, effectively putting Gryffindor in the lead for the House Cup. For practically the first time since his arrival at Hogwarts, Rick was being greeted as a hero by his fellow housemates and he had to admit, he enjoyed it. However, with the end of term also came the inevitable return to Coakley and Mad Maggie, something Rick really wasn't looking forward to. All too soon it was their last night at Hogwarts and Rick was feeling both sad and exited as they made their way down to the Great Hall for the end-of-term feast. The Gryffindor table was the rowdiest of them all as they dined under the decorative red and gold flags. After supper, Aldebourne confirmed the final score and for the first time in eight years, Gryffindor won the House Cup. Rigel nudged Rick and pointed to the Slytherin table where Mordaunt and Rydell were sulking. It made the victory all that sweeter. Rick would never forget that night. They wanted to stay and celebrate Gryffindor's victory all night but they were chased out of the Great Hall by a Prefect when almost all other students had left already. As they crossed the Entrance Hall, they found Lewis waiting for them by the grand stairs.

"Hi." She greeted them. Rick thought she sounded a bit nervous. "I… I wanted to say thank you … all of you … for... you know, saving me from Creedon."

"How are you feeling?" Cedric asked a little concerned.

"Fine, thanks. Just a bit of a headache now and then." Lewis replied.

"Bloody Creedon." Rigel blamed their old professor and Rick had to suppress a grin. There was an awkward pause, like Lewis wanted to say something else but wasn't sure where to begin.

"Well, goodnight then." Rick decided to break the silence and he made for the stairs, Rigel, Terri and Cedric in tow.

"Wait, O'Connell." Lewis called out and Rick turned again. "I just wanted to say, I'm sorry I was kind of hard on you." She said awkwardly. "You've really bettered yourself."

"Is that a compliment?" Rick asked, feeling a little unsettled. He wasn't used to Lewis being so... docile.

"Yes, don't let it go to your head." Lewis replied, sounding a bit more like her usual bossy self. "Well, have a nice summer."

"Thanks, you too." Rick watched her bound up the stairs before following her at a more leisurely pace, his three best friends beside him.

"Well, that was weird." Rigel said. "Do you think being under Creedon's spell gave her a new personality?"

"If only." Rick muttered.

The next morning they got their exam results and Rick was pleased to find that he had passed. His good grades in Charms, Defence Against the dark Arts and Transfiguration compensated his dreadful scores in Magical Theory and History of Magic. Rigel and Terri also passed and Cedric did too, his good grades for the theoretical classes making up for his still mediocre wand work. Samantha Lewis was the best in their year, to no one's surprise but Rigel's cousin Regina who simply refused to believe it and insisted there had been some kind of a mistake. They all took a leaf out of Rigel's book and ignored her. All too soon their trunks were packed and they were waiting to board the train back to London. Professor Lloyd made sure they all received a note stating that they were prohibited by law to use magic outside of school, something that dampened Rick's spirit even more. He had hoped to scare the living daylights out of Stryker and his gang with all that he had learned this year and for a moment, Rick was tempted to test the rule until Cedric reminded him that he could be expelled from Hogwarts for doing that. His friends had picked up on his reluctance to go home and did their best to cheer him up.

"Don't worry, we'll write." Terri tried to comfort him.

"Yeah, summer will be over before you know it." Cedric tried to lift his spirits. "You could use the time to read up on your books." That didn't cheer Rick up at all until he realised Cedric was joking.

"Pitiful joke, Cedric." He replied but he still laughed.

"I would disagree." His friend replied with a smile.

"You should come stay at my place." Rigel offered. "Because if I have to spend another summer with just the company of my family, I'll go crazy."

As they were speeding through the mountainous landscape, the four friends amused themselves with a last game of Exploding Snap. Even Cedric put his books aside for once to join them. Their fun game was interrupted by Mordaunt walking into their compartment, followed by Martin Rydell and two other Slytherin boys. They took in the scene with a look of disgust on their faces.

"You think yourself quite something now, don't you?" Mordaunt sneered at Rick.

"Haven't you heard? I saved a fellow student, I am quite something." Rick replied, antagonizing Mordaunt.

"You shouldn't even be here anymore." Martin Rydell sneered. "You should've been expelled after we trashed Selwyn's office."

" _You_ trashed it?" Rick replied, standing up to face the Slytherins.

"Well done, idiot." Mordaunt reprimanded his cousin.

"It doesn't matter he knows it was us, he can't do anything about it." Rydell said, looking pleased with himself. "And if you ever set foot in our common room again, we'll do a lot worse that will definitely get you and your friends expelled. My uncle's on the school board, remember? He'll urge for you immediate expulsion if we ask him to." Rydell finished, looking smug. Rick gritted his teeth.

"I don't think so." Rigel countered, rising to stand next to Rick. "You see, I have a father too who is high up in the ministry and when he learns his son or his son's friends were expelled for something they didn't do, he'll start digging around your family and I'm sure he'll come up with a lot more dirt than you could possibly blame us for, I suggest you and your crazy family leave us alone." He shut the door in front of the Slytherins' faces and closed the curtains for good measure. Cedric, Terri and Rick cheered.

"We should have your father investigate them anyway, it would serve them right." Terri scoffed.

"We should, but I'm pretty sure my father wouldn't do that just because I asked him." Rigel replied.

"You bluffed?" Cedric asked. Rigel nodded and Rick laughed.

"Rigel, you're brilliant." He complemented his friend.

"I know, though I don't nearly get enough credit for it." Rigel mock complained.

"Oh, Merlin. I'll tell you one thing you're not, humble." Terri's comment made them all laugh and the rest of the train ride, the Slytherins left them alone. Before long though, their good humour vanished when it was time to stow away their Hogwarts robes and to don their muggle clothing. Ten minutes later, they were rolling into King's Cross Station. It wasn't until they passed through the barrier and Rick saw Terri and Cedric meeting up with their parents that he realized no one was waiting for him and he had no way of getting home. He said as much to Rigel.

"Why don't you take the Knight Bus home?" His friend asked, as if it was the most obvious solution.

"The night bus?" Rick repeated. "I haven't got any muggle money?"

"Not the muggle night bus, the _Knight Bus_." Rigel explained. Seeing Rick didn't fully understand, he explained further. "Just put your wand arm in the air and you'll see. Only, do it someplace deserted, you wouldn't want muggles to see you." He winked as he said goodbye and approached a stern looking man waiting impatiently nearby. As soon as Rigel joined him, the man ushered him away. His friend had just enough time to wave goodbye and then Rick was really alone. He wove his way through the different families, out of King Cross Station and into a deserted alley nearby. Cautiously, he got out his wand and did as Rigel had instructed him. A loud BANG! made Rick jump and suddenly, a triple-decker purple bus pulled up out of nowhere. The sign on the front said _'The Knight Bus'_ and Rick grinned.

"I love magic."

289


End file.
